The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence
regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen. We review here the current understanding of …

Vascular tone of resistance arteries and arterioles determines peripheral vascular
resistance, contributing to the regulation of blood pressure and blood flow to, and within the …

Large-conductance Ca2+-and voltage-activated K+ (BK) channels play many physiological
roles ranging from the maintenance of smooth muscle tone to hearing and neurosecretion …

An essential step in renal function entails the formation of an ultrafiltrate that is delivered to
the renal tubules for subsequent processing. This process, known as glomerular filtration, is …

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), which are synthesized from arachidonic acid by
cytochrome P450 epoxygenases, function primarily as autocrine and paracrine effectors in …

The calcium ion (Ca2+) is the simplest and most versatile intracellular messenger known.
The discovery of Ca2+ sparks and a related family of elementary Ca2+ signaling events has …

Potassium channels are particularly important in determining the shape and duration of the
action potential, controlling the membrane potential, modulating hormone secretion …

Molecular research on ion channels has demonstrated that many of these integral
membrane proteins associate with partner proteins, often versatile in their function, or even …

The deficit in cerebral blood flow (CBF) seen in patients with hypertension-induced vascular
dementia is increasingly viewed as a therapeutic target for disease-modifying therapy …

All cells use changes in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+] i) to regulate cell
signalling events. In neurons, with their elaborate dendritic and axonal arborizations, there …