Researchers were able to control heart muscle function in a new way after discovering the previously unknown role of two enzymes in heart muscle contraction. Although in the early stages, the research ...

A new molecular pathway has been identified that is critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system. Researchers at UMass Medical ...

The ability to modify the intracellular concentrations of divalent calcium ions is vital to normal cell functioning. In the cells of the cardiac muscle, calcium ions play a crucial role in coupling ...

The contractile responses of esophageal smooth muscle (SM) induced by platelet-activating factor (PAF) involve the activation of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (L-type VDCCs), ...

IT is well established that an increase in the intracellular concentration of ionized calcium after excitation in the membrane is the key factor for initiation of contraction of various types of ...

IT is believed that muscle contracts or relaxes depending on the concentration of calcium in the sarcoplasm: when the concentration rises to some required level the muscle contracts; when it falls ...

Researchers engineered mice with a mutation (E3896A) in the RyR1 calcium-binding site, eliminating calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) without affecting depolarization-induced calcium release. The ...

Beet juice boosts endurance for many (but not all) people, according to a series of studies over the past five years or so. The active ingredient appears to be nitrate, which somehow reduces the ...