Gender differences in the regulation of MLC20 phosphorylation and smooth muscle contraction in rat stomach

Evidence of sex-related differences in gastrointestinal (GI) functions has been reported in the literature. In addition, various GI disorders have disproportionate prevalence between the sexes. An essential step in the initiation of smooth muscle contraction is the phosphorylation of the 20-kDa regu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomedical reports 2018-03, Vol.8 (3), p.283-288
Main Authors: Al-Shboul, Othman A, Al-Dwairi, Ahmed N, Alqudah, Mohammad A, Mustafa, Ayman G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylcholine receptors (muscarinic)
Adenosine
Calcium ions
Calcium-binding protein
Calmodulin
Chains
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Enzymes
Esophagus
Experiments
Fecal incontinence
Females
Gender aspects
Gender differences
Kinases
Laboratories
Males
Motility
Muscle contraction
Muscles
Myosin
Myosin-light-chain kinase
Phosphatase
Phosphorylation
Proteins
Rats
Rodents
Sex
Sex differences
Signaling
Smooth muscle
Stomach
Studies
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Summary:Evidence of sex-related differences in gastrointestinal (GI) functions has been reported in the literature. In addition, various GI disorders have disproportionate prevalence between the sexes. An essential step in the initiation of smooth muscle contraction is the phosphorylation of the 20-kDa regulatory myosin light chain (MLC20) by the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). However, whether male stomach smooth muscle inherits different contractile signaling mechanisms for the regulation of MLC20 phosphorylation from that in females has not been established. The present study was designed to investigate sex-associated differences in the regulation of MLC20 phosphorylation and thus muscle contraction in gastric smooth muscle cells (GSMCs). Experiments were performed on GSMCs freshly isolated from male and female rats. Contraction of the GSMCs in response to acetylcholine (ACh), a muscarinic agonist, was measured via scanning micrometry in the presence or absence of the MLCK inhibitor, ML-7. Additionally, the protein levels of MLC20, MLCK and phosphorylated MLC20 were measured by ELISA. The protein levels of MLC20 and MLCK were indifferent between the sexes. ACh induced greater contraction (P
ISSN:2049-9434
2049-9442
DOI:10.3892/br.2018.1053