Phosphorylation intracellular calcium regulation

Although in in vivo circumstances an intracellular free calcium increase apparently acts as the primary modulator of contraction, it can be bypassed in highly permeabilized smooth muscle preparations where the active subunit of MLCK can be introduced to phosphorylate myosin and induce contraction. The MLCK catalyzed phosphorylation of serine-19 is seen as the necessary event in the activation of smooth muscle myosin to form crossbridges. Thus, the rising phase of force during an isometric smooth muscle contraction follows an increase in the degree of phosphorylation of myosin, and that in turn follows the transient rise of (a) cytosolic free Ca, (b) Ca-calmodulin complexes, and (c) the active form of MLCK. The regulation of the intracellular calcium is discussed below. The dynam-... 

Gap junctional channels, like many other ion channels, can be modulated via second messengers and via phosphorylation processes. Besides these, intracellular calcium and pH have been proven to be important regulators of channel function. In this chapter the short-term regulatory processes are considered, i.e. processes on a time scale of minutes. Besides this, regulatory processes are known which take place over a period of 30 min up to several hours and which involve formation or synthesis of new gap junction channels. The latter processes are described in the following chapter. 

Fig. 11.1 Activation of MAPK pathway by Angll and ET-1 in VSMC. Stimulation of Angll and ET-1 receptors through Gq/n activation enhances the activity of PLCp. Activated PLC 3 converts PIP2 to IP3 and diacylglycerol (DAG). IP3 elevates the concentration of intracellular calcium and DAG activates PKC. PKC and/or Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinases (CaMK) activate nonreceptor (NR) and/or receptor (R) protein tyrosine kinases. Activation of these components signals the stimulation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERKl/2 and p70 s6k. ERK1/2 and p70 s6k are translocated to nucleus and regulate nuclear events by activating transcription factors through phosphorylation.

Protein Tyrosine Phosphorylation and Regulation of Intracellular Calcium in Smooth Muscle Cells... 

Pozzan T, Rizzuto R, Volpe P, Meldolesi J (1994) Molecular and cellular physiology of intracellular calcium stores. Physiol Rev 74 595-636 Raeymakers L, Wuytack F (1996) Calcium pumps. In Barany M (ed) Biochemistry of smooth muscle contraction. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 241-253 Rembold CM (1990) Modulation of the [Ca " ] sensitivity of myosin phosphorylation in intact swine arterial smooth muscle. J Physiol 429 77-94 Rembold CM, Weaver BA (1990) [Ca ], not diacylglycerol, is the primary regulator of sustained swine arterial smooth muscle contraction. Hypertension 15 692-698 Shimada T, Somlyo AP (1992) Modulation of voltage-dependent Ca channel current by arachidonic acid and other long-chain fatty acids in rabbit intestinal smooth muscle. J Gen Physiol 100 27-44... 

The H2 receptor is a 359-amino-acid protein in humans. It has some features similar to the Hi protein (e.g., N-terminal glycosylation sites) and phosphorylation sites in the C-terminal. An aspartic acid residue in the third transmembrane loop appears to be critical to agonist and antagonist binding, and threonine/aspartate and tyrosine/aspartate couples in the fifth transmembrane domain appear to be important for interaction of the imidazole part of the histamine molecule. It is positively coupled via Gas to activate adenylyl cyclase for synthesis of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) as a second messenger. In some systems, it is coupled through Gq proteins to stimulate phospholipase C. It appears in some cells that other processes, such as breakdown of phosphoinositides, control of intracellular calcium ion levels, and phospholipase A2 activity, can be regulated by other cAMP-independent pathways. 

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