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Endothelial mediators and communication through vascular gap junctions

  • Cor de Wit , Bernd Hoepfl and Stephanie E. Wölfle
Published/Copyright: January 13, 2006
Biological Chemistry
From the journal Volume 387 Issue 1

Abstract

Cellular interaction in vessels is achieved by multiple communication pathways, including gap junctions (GJs). They provide intercellular channels, allowing direct interaction of endothelial and smooth muscle cells and the coordination of cellular behaviour along the vessel. The latter is a prerequisite for large flow increases because an adaptation of resistance along the vessel length is required. Longitudinal communication is studied by confined local stimulation of arterioles and the observation of responses at distant locations. Certain vascular stimuli induce local and concomitant remote responses of a similar type, verifying rapid longitudinal conduction of vasomotor signals, most likely changes in membrane potential. This is achieved for dilatory responses via the endothelium, possibly by an endothelium-derived hyperpolarising factor (EDHF) that induces local hyperpolarisation, which is then transferred to remote sites through GJs. In vessels, GJs are composed of different connexins (Cx), but Cx40 is of special importance because its lack impairs longitudinal conduction of vasodilations. Interestingly, Cx40-deficient mice are hypertensive, suggesting that Cx40-dependent coupling is necessary to regulate vascular behaviour and peripheral resistance. While the role of other connexins is less well established, an abundance of data has proven the necessity of GJ communication to coordinate vascular behaviour during blood flow regulation.

Keywords: conducted response; connexin; EDHF; endothelium; gap junctions; microcirculation
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Published Online: 2006-01-13
Published in Print: 2006-01-01

©2006 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editor's Note
  2. Endothelial mediators and communication through vascular gap junctions
  3. Bradykinin and peripheral sensitization
  4. Renal gene expression profiling using kinin B1 and B2 receptor knockout mice reveals comparable modulation of functionally related genes
  5. Solvent-induced changes in photochemical activity and conformation of photosystem I particles by glycerol
  6. Interaction of the BELL-like protein ATH1 with DNA: role of homeodomain residue 54 in specifying the different binding properties of BELL and KNOX proteins
  7. Vitamin B1de novo synthesis in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum depends on external provision of 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine
  8. Ecto- and cytosolic 5′-nucleotidases in normal and AMP deaminase-deficient human skeletal muscle
  9. Dual signal transduction mediated by a single type of olfactory receptor expressed in a heterologous system
  10. Modulation of autocrine TNF-α-stimulated matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) expression by mitogen-activated protein kinases in THP-1 monocytic cells
  11. The PAK1 autoregulatory domain is required for interaction with NIK in Helicobacter pylori-induced NF-κB activation
  12. Aflatoxin B1-induced toxicity in HepG2 cells inhibited by carotenoids: morphology, apoptosis and DNA damage
  13. Detection of prion particles in samples of BSE and scrapie by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy without proteinase K digestion
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https://doi.org/10.1515/BC.2006.002
Keywords for this article
conducted response; connexin; EDHF; endothelium; gap junctions; microcirculation

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editor's Note
  2. Endothelial mediators and communication through vascular gap junctions
  3. Bradykinin and peripheral sensitization
  4. Renal gene expression profiling using kinin B1 and B2 receptor knockout mice reveals comparable modulation of functionally related genes
  5. Solvent-induced changes in photochemical activity and conformation of photosystem I particles by glycerol
  6. Interaction of the BELL-like protein ATH1 with DNA: role of homeodomain residue 54 in specifying the different binding properties of BELL and KNOX proteins
  7. Vitamin B1de novo synthesis in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum depends on external provision of 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine
  8. Ecto- and cytosolic 5′-nucleotidases in normal and AMP deaminase-deficient human skeletal muscle
  9. Dual signal transduction mediated by a single type of olfactory receptor expressed in a heterologous system
  10. Modulation of autocrine TNF-α-stimulated matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) expression by mitogen-activated protein kinases in THP-1 monocytic cells
  11. The PAK1 autoregulatory domain is required for interaction with NIK in Helicobacter pylori-induced NF-κB activation
  12. Aflatoxin B1-induced toxicity in HepG2 cells inhibited by carotenoids: morphology, apoptosis and DNA damage
  13. Detection of prion particles in samples of BSE and scrapie by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy without proteinase K digestion
  14. A method to determine RNA and DNA oxidation simultaneously by HPLC-ECD: greater RNA than DNA oxidation in rat liver after doxorubicin administration
  15. NF-κB contributes to transcription of placenta growth factor and interacts with metal responsive transcription factor-1 in hypoxic human cells
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