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(Circulation Research. 2003;93:61.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Integrative Physiology

Homocellular Conduction Along Endothelium and Smooth Muscle of Arterioles in Hamster Cheek Pouch

Unmasking an NO Wave

Stéphane Budel, Iain S. Bartlett, Steven S. Segal

From the John B. Pierce Laboratory and Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Correspondence to Steven S. Segal, PhD, The John B. Pierce Laboratory, Yale University School of Medicine, 290 Congress Ave, New Haven, CT 06519-1403. E-mail sssegal{at}jbpierce.org

We investigated roles for homocellular (endothelium or smooth muscle) and heterocellular (myoendothelial) conduction pathways along hamster cheek pouch arterioles in vivo (n=64; diameter, 33±1 µm). Endothelium-dependent and -independent vasoactive agents were delivered from micropipettes (0.5 or 1 second pulse) onto an arteriole while observing diameter changes at defined distances along the vessel. Acetylcholine (ACh) produced maximal diameter (63±1 µm) locally and vasodilation conducted rapidly (10 µm response at 2 mm, <1 second). Responses to bradykinin (BK) were similar, whereas sodium nitroprusside produced maximal dilation locally without conduction. KCl evoked biphasic conduction of vasoconstriction and vasodilation, whereas phenylephrine (PE) produced conducted vasoconstriction. Disrupting the integrity of endothelium as a conduction pathway using focal light-dye treatment (LDT) abolished conducted vasodilation to BK and to KCl but not to ACh. Disruption of smooth muscle integrity with LDT abolished conducted vasoconstriction with no effect on conducted vasodilation. After LDT of respective cell layers at sites 1 mm apart, vasodilation to ACh conducted past disrupted smooth muscle or disrupted endothelium, but not beyond both sites in series. The loss of conduction after selective LDT indicates a lack of effective myoendothelial coupling along the arteriolar wall. During NO synthase inhibition (L-NA, 100 µmol/L), conducted vasodilation was abolished to BK and to KCl yet remained intact to ACh. However, after LDT of smooth muscle, L-NA inhibited conduction to ACh by 60%. Thus, conduction of vasodilation entails a wave of NO release along arteriolar endothelium that is masked when smooth muscle provides a parallel conduction pathway.

Key Words: microcirculation • conduction • endothelium • smooth muscle • nitric oxide

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