1. Partial obstruction of the murine ileum led to changes in the gross morphology and ultrastructure of the tunica muscularis. Populations of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) decreased oral, but not aboral, to the site of obstruction. Since ICC generate and propagate electrical slow waves in gastrointestinal muscles, we investigated whether the loss of ICC leads to loss of function in partial bowel obstruction.2. Changes in ICC networks and electrical activity were monitored in the obstructed murine intestine using immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and intracellular electrophysiological techniques.3. Two weeks following the onset of a partial obstruction, the bowel increased in diameter and hypertrophy of the tunica muscularis was observed oral to the obstruction site. ICC networks were disrupted oral to the obstruction, and this disruption was accompanied by the loss of electrical slow waves and responses to enteric nerve stimulation. These defects were not observed aboral to the obstruction. 6. These data describe the plasticity of ICC networks in response to partial obstruction. After obstruction the ICC phenotype was lost, but these cells regenerated when the obstruction was removed. This model may be an important tool for evaluating the cellular/molecular factors responsible for the regulation and maintenance of the ICC phenotype.

1. Electrical rhythmicity (slow waves) in gastrointestinal muscles (GI) is generated by interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). Cultured ICC from the murine small intestine were studied with the patch-clamp technique to characterize regulation of pacemaker currents by cyclic nucleotides. Cyclic nucleotide agonists were also tested on intact strips of murine small intestine. 2. Nitric oxide donors slowed the frequency of pacemaker currents in a concentration-dependent manner. These effects depended on cGMP formation and were reduced by 1H-[1,2, 4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ). The effects of nitric oxide donors were mimicked by membrane-permeable analogues of cGMP. The specific cGMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor zaprinast reduced the frequency of spontaneous pacemaker currents. 3. The cGMP-dependent effects on pacemaker currents were not affected by okadaic acid or KT-5823, an inhibitor of protein kinase G. 4. Forskolin, but not dideoxy forskolin, reduced the frequency of spontaneous pacemaker activity and activated a sustained outward current. The latter was likely to be due to ATP-dependent K+ channels because it was blocked by glibenclamide. 5. The effects of forskolin were not mimicked by membrane-permeable cAMP analogues. A membrane-permeable inhibitor of protein kinase A, myristoylated PKA inhibitor, and the adenylyl cyclase inhibitor SQ-22536, had no effect on responses to forskolin. 6. Responses of intact muscles to cGMP and cAMP agonists were similar to the responses of pacemaker cells. Changes in resting membrane potential and slow wave amplitude, however, were noted in intact jejunal muscles that were not observed in ICC. Differences in responses may have been due to the effects of cyclic nucleotide agonists on smooth muscle cells that would sum with responses of ICC in intact jejunal muscle strips. 7. A cGMP-dependent mechanism regulates slow wave frequency, but this occurs through direct action of cGMP not via protein phosphorylation. Regulation of pacemaker currents by cAMP-dependent mechanisms was not observed.