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 ...

Actomyosin is a protein complex composed of actin and myosin. It is found in muscle fibers where it plays a role in muscle contraction. Actin is one of the most abundant proteins in eukaryotes. It ...

A new study by researchers at Yale and Johns Hopkins University has discovered how asthmatic bronchial spasms — muscle contractions in the airway that cause difficulty breathing in asthma patients— ...

A research group led by Dr. Keisuke Obara, Dr. Kento Yoshioka, and Professor Yoshio Tanaka from the Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, has ...

DALLAS – April 5, 2004 – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas are the first to use genetically engineered mice containing a fluorescent molecule to examine in real time the chemical ...

The molecular regulation of smooth-muscle contraction is an important determinant of airway responses during an acute asthmatic attack. In acute asthma, various triggers, including viral illnesses and ...

Muscle contraction is the tightening, shortening, or lengthening of muscles when you do some activity. It can happen when you hold or pick up something, or when you stretch or exercise with weights.

IT is generally believed that the process which initiates contraction in striated muscle is the depolarization of the excitable membrane of the muscle fibre, although the mechanism by which membrane ...

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 ...

Panel A shows the microscopic myoarchitecture of the circular and longitudinal muscle layers of the lower esophageal sphincter and stomach. The circular muscle fibers of the esophagus cross each other ...