Microelectrode techniques and the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator indo-1 were used to measure membrane potential, cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]cyt), and muscle tension simultaneously in canine antral smooth muscles. Responses of muscles from the myenteric and submucosal regions were compared, since electrical activity and excitation-contraction coupling in these regions differ. The upstroke phase of electrical slow waves in both regions induced an increase in [Ca2+]cyt. In myenteric muscles the plateau phase of slow waves often caused either a further rise in [Ca2+]cyt or maintenance of the level reached during the upstroke event. In submucosal muscles, the plateau phase was significantly smaller and did not induce a second phase in the Ca2+ transient. Contractions were related to the amplitudes of Ca2+ transients. Acetylcholine (ACh; 3 x 10(-8)-10(-6) M) increased the amplitude and duration of the plateau phase of slow waves in a concentration-dependent manner. ACh also increased the second phase of Ca2+ transients and contractile responses associated with the plateau potential. In submucosal muscles ACh induced a significant increase in the plateau phase of the slow wave and increased the corresponding phase of Ca2+ transient. Nicardipine (10(-6) M) inhibited plateau phase of slow waves and the associated increases in [Ca2+]cyt and muscle tension. BAY K 8644 (10(-7) M) augmented the plateau potential and increased [Ca2+]cyt and muscle tension. These results suggest that dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ currents participate in the plateau potential. Cholinergic stimulation modulates [Ca2+]cyt and therefore force by regulating the amount of Ca2+ entering cells through these channels.
The motility of the gastrointestinal tract consists of local, non-propulsive mixing (pendular or segmental) and propulsive (peristaltic) movements. It is generally considered that mixing movements are produced by intrinsic pacemakers which generate rhythmic contractions, and peristalsis by intrinsic excitatory and inhibitory neural reflex pathways, but the relationship between mixing and peristalsis is poorly understood. Peristalsis is compromised in mice lacking interstitial cells of Cajal, suggesting that these pacemaker cells may also be involved in neural reflexes. Here we show that mixing movements within longitudinal muscle result from spontaneously generated waves of elevated internal calcium concentration which originate from discrete locations (pacing sites), spread with anisotropic conduction velocities in al directions, and terminate by colliding with each other or with adjacent neurally suppressed regions. Excitatory neural reflexes control the spread of excitability by inducing new pacing sites and enhancing the overall frequency of pacing, whereas inhibitory reflexes suppress the ability of calcium waves to propagate. We provide evidence that the enteric nervous system organizes mixing movements to generate peristalsis, linking the neural regulation of pacemakers to both types of gut motility.
Colonic slow waves originate from pacemaker cells along the submucosal surface of the circular layer in the dog proximal colon. These events propagate in a nonregenerative manner into the bulk of the circular layer. Conduction velocities consistent with an active mechanism for slow-wave propagation in the longitudinal and circumferential axes of the colon have been reported. Experiments were performed using intracellular recording techniques on canine colonic muscles to determine the regenerative pathway for slow-wave propagation. In a thin band of muscle adjacent to the submucosal border of the circular layer, slow-wave amplitude was independent of distance from a pacing source, and events propagated at a rate of approximately 17 mm/s in the long axis of the circular fibers and 6 mm/s in the transverse axis of the circular fibers. These findings suggest that slow waves propagate in a regenerative manner in this region. Slow waves decayed as they conducted through regions from which the pacemaker cells had been removed with space constants of a few millimeters. Thus the integrity of the thin pacemaker region along submucosal surface is critical for propagation of slow waves and the organization of motility into segmental contractions.
Effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and substance P on the electrical and mechanical activities of the circular muscle layer of the canine proximal colon were studied. Because this muscle layer is bordered by two different pacemaker regions, responses from segments containing either a single pacemaker region or no pacemaker region were compared with responses of the complete muscle layer. Concentration-response relationships for ACh and substance P were similar between the various segments, suggesting that receptors for these agonists are expressed throughout the layer. The dominant contractile pattern induced by ACh and substance P in each segment was a 1- to 3-cycle/min rhythm. In a like manner, these agonists also elicited an electrical pattern in which a long-duration slow wave occurred one to three times per minute between short-duration slow waves. Low concentrations of nifedipine (0.01 microM) selectively antagonized the 1- to 3-cycle/min rhythm. In circular muscles with no pacemaker region, ACh (1 microM) caused depolarization, induced oscillations in membrane potential averaging 24 +/- 5 mV in amplitude and 2.9 +/- 0.9 cycles/min in frequency, and generated rhythmic contractions at the same frequency. This "interior" circular muscle was functionally innervated by cholinergic excitatory nerves. Exposure to ACh (1 microM) did not alter the conduction of slow waves through the thickness of the circular layer. In summary, the excitatory neurotransmitters, ACh and substance P, induce a dominant electrical and contractile rhythm throughout the circular muscle layer that is different from the spontaneous rhythms produced at either the myenteric or submucosal border.
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