Heterogeneity of calcium signaling in smouth muscle cells

钙是平滑肌细胞中收缩机制的主要激活剂，其在细胞内的水平决定了细胞产生的收缩量。 使用生理上完整的动物血管和气道，我们建议进行广泛的调查的模式和各种平滑肌细胞的钙依赖性收缩的机制。 更具体地说，我们希望进一步探索波浪状钙振荡的机制，这是激活平滑肌收缩的重要和常见的信号机制。 我们还计划研究不同血管平滑肌细胞的结构，以了解为什么不同的平滑肌细胞表现不同。从这些研究中，我们有望了解平滑肌细胞在不同组织和器官中的行为。

Calcium is a major activator of the contractile machinery in the smooth muscle cells and its level inside the cell determines the amount of contraction generated by the cell. Using physiologically intact animal blood vessels and airway, we are proposing to undertake an extensive survey of the pattern and the mechanism of calcium-dependent contraction in various smooth muscle cells. More specifically, we want to further explore the mechanisms for wave-like calcium oscillations, an important and common signaling mechanism for activating smooth muscle contraction. We are also planning to study the structures of the different vascular smooth muscle cells in order to understand why different smooth muscle cells behave differently. From the studies, we are hopeful to gain insight into how smooth muscle cells behave in different tissue and organ.