BookHikaru Hashitani, Richard J. Lang, editors.
Summary: This book presents the commonality and heterogeneity of the mechanisms underlying smooth muscle spontaneous activity in various smooth muscle organs and in addition discusses their malfunctions in disease and their potential as novel therapeutic targets. To facilitate understanding, the volume is divided into five parts and covers 16 organs: airways, phasic muscle, tonic muscle, renal pelvis, ureter, urinary bladder, urethra, corporal tissue, prostate, uterus, oviducts, seminal vesicle, artery, vein, microvasculature, and lymphatic vessels. This structure will help readers to comprehend the most up-to-date information on the similarities and differences in the contractile mechanisms driving various smooth muscles as well as their potential manipulations in particular visceral organ pathologies. The vast advancements in gene, electrical recording, and imaging technologies in this field are also discussed, with review of past achievements and consideration of likely future developments. This book will be of worldwide interest to clinicians, students, and researchers alike.
Contents:
PART I: Gastrointestinal tract
Phasic muscle
Spontaneous electrical activity and rhythmicity in gastrointestinal smooth muscles
Tonic muscle (Sphincters)
Generation of tone by gastrointestinal sphincters
PART II: Urinary tract
Renal pelvis
Pacemaker mechanisms driving pyeloureteric peristalsis: modulatory role of interstitial cells
Ureter
Excitation-contraction coupling in ureteric smooth muscle: mechanisms driving ureteric peristalsis
Urinary Bladder
Spontaneous activity and the urinary bladder
Urethra
Spontaneous activity in urethral smooth muscle
PART III: Reproductive organs
Corporal tissue
Ion channels and intracellular calcium signalling in corpus cavernosum
Prostate
Generation and regulation of spontaneous contractions in the prostate gland
Seminal vesicle
Mucosa-dependent, stretch-sensitive spontaneous activity in seminal vesicle
Uterus
The myometrium - from excitation to contractions and labour
Oviducts
Myosalpinx contractions are essential for egg transport along the oviduct and are disrupted in reproductive tract diseases
PART IV: Blood vessels
Artery
Cellular and Ionic Mechanisms of Arterial Vasomotion
Vein
Venous Vasomotion
Microvasculature
Role of pericytes in the initiation and propagation of spontaneous activity in the microvasculature
Lymphatic vessels
Lymphatic vessel pumping
PART V: Airways
Regulation of airway smooth muscle contraction in health and disease.