Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
Volume 90, Issue 6, Pages 739-752Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/Y2012-075
Keywords
endothelium; calcium-activated potassium channels; nitric oxide; endothelial dysfunction; oxidative stress
Categories
Funding
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of North West Territories
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nunavut
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- University of Alberta QEII
- Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Women's and Children's Health research Institute (WHCRI), University of Alberta
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Government of Alberta
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The vascular endothelium plays a critical role in vascular health by controlling arterial diameter, regulating local cell growth, and protecting blood vessels from the deleterious consequences of platelet aggregation and activation of inflammatory responses. Circulating chemical mediators and physical forces act directly on the endothelium to release diffusible relaxing factors, such as nitric oxide (NO), and to elicit hyperpolarization of the endothelial cell membrane potential, which can spread to the surrounding smooth muscle cells via gap junctions. Endothelial hyperpolarization, mediated by activation of calcium-activated potassium (K-Ca) channels, has generally been regarded as a distinct pathway for smooth muscle relaxation. However, recent evidence supports a role for endothelial K-Ca channels in production of endothelium-derived NO, and indicates that pharmacological activation of these channels can enhance NO-mediated responses. In this review we summarize the current data on the functional role of endothelial K-Ca channels in regulating NO-mediated changes in arterial diameter and NO production, and explore the tempting possibility that these channels may represent a novel avenue for therapeutic intervention in conditions associated with reduced NO availability such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and diabetes mellitus.
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