The endothelium is the innermost layer of the blood vessels and involved in almost all cardiovascular functions and diseases. Endothelial cells can extract information from various extracellular stimuli and merge these complex input signals to generate output signals to instruct corresponding cardiovascular activities. A major challenge of the endothelium is to process multitudes of information in a noisy environment. Here I examined the response of ~50 endothelial cells, in intact aortic tissue, in response to acetylcholine (ACh) and vasopressin (AVP). The endothelium showed concentration-dependent Ca2+ signalling in response to ACh, as a higher concentration led to a bigger number of active cells and stronger Ca2+ signalling in individual cells. However, the application of AVP did not generate a significant Ca2+ response and high concentrations of AVP led to significant vasoconstriction, which must be avoided in this experiment. When the two extracellular activators were simultaneously applied to the endothelium, the combined additions generated brand-new Ca2+ signals, which was AVP concentration dependent. As a result, the endothelium has an efficient sensory system and is highly sensitive to the extracellular activators, ACh. Although the drug mechanism of AVP in the endothelium is unclear, the addition of AVP led to a decrease in Ca2+ signalling in the presence of ACh, which provided a new basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies in cardiovascular diseases.
Date of Award | 18 Dec 2020 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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Sponsors | University of Strathclyde |
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Supervisor | John McCarron (Supervisor) |
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