The role of intracellular calcium stores in the myogenic response of rat middle cerebral arteries

• Author / Creator

  Tam, Raymond C

• The myogenic response is the ability of resistance arteries to constrict in response to blood pressure increases. As a key autoregulatory mechanism, this ability limits fluctuations in blood flow even when large blood pressure changes occur. The aim of my research is to examine the role of intracellular calcium stores in the myogenic response of rat middle cerebral arteries. I have addressed this aim by using pharmacological approaches to test two hypotheses:

  1. smooth muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) provides an internal calcium source for myogenic response
  2. the endothelium can modulate myogenic tone, and disruption of the endothelial endoplasmic reticulum will disturb myogenic reactivity My data demonstrate that in rat middle cerebral arteries, disruption of the smooth muscle cell SR results in loss of myogenic response. Also, although the endothelium does not actively regulate the myogenic response, disruption of endothelial cell calcium regulation can lead to myogenic tone loss.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Myogenic response
  • Intracellular calcium stores
  • Cerebral arteries

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CX2B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.