Kelsey Foust
Senior Biology Major, Chemistry Minor
Evaluation of Biological Literature
Scientific Articles
Effects of hypertension on morphological, contractile and mechanical properties of Rat aortic smooth muscle cells
Matsumoto, Takeo; Yamamoto, Mitsunobu; Seo, Shinji; Sato, Junpei; Kato, Yoko; et al.
-In this article, researchers measured the effects of hypertension on the contractibility, shape, and stretching, and distensibility of smooth muscle cells in the aortas of male Wistar rats. Hypertension is a chronic medical condition in ehich the pressure in the arteries is persistently high. The causes of hypertension can be either genetic or due to lifestyle factors such as consuming a diet high in salt, stress, and smoking.The disease usually occurs without any symptoms and can be life threatening, leading to vision loss, stroke, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. The arteries play a critical role in regulating blood pressure, as their ability to constrict or dilate controls the rate at which blood flows through them. This notion explains why the contractile and mechanical properties of the smooth muscle cells of an artery was measured in this study. The results of the study showed that cell diameter was larger in hypertensive rats than in control rats and the length was not statistically different and contractibility was lower in hypertensive rats compared to the control and the elasticity of smooth muscle cells was much lower in hypertensive rats compared to the control. Also, the contractility of the hypertensive aortas were reduced while walls of the excised aortas showed an increased thickening. These findings suggest that hypertension causes muscular weakness and softening of smooth muscle cells, causing a decrease in the actin filaments responsible for muscle contraction.
Insulin Receptor Signaling in Normal and Insulin-Resistant States
Jérémie Boucher, André Kleinridders, and C. Ronald Kahn
- Type 2 diabetes is a disease that is increasing in occurance worldwide. In this disease, the body becomes resistant to insulin, leading to a variety of health disparities such as nerve damage, nephropathy, and eye damage. In this article, different mechanisms of insulin resistance were examined in an attempt to better understand the pathways leading of type 2 diabetes.
Matrix metalloproteinases: What do they not do? New substrates and biological roles identified by murine models and proteomics
David Rodríguez a,c,1 , Charlotte J. Morrison a,c , Christopher M. Overall
-In this article, MMP's (matrix metalloproteinases) are characterized based on their functions. The article also adresses the misconception about MMP's only degrading the extracellular matrix.The article suggests that not all MMP's serve a degrading purpose, but that some MMP's are used in remodeling. A particular case is described in order to support the notion that MMP's do not only degrade, and to highlight the need to study MMP's in more detail in order to determine the specific functions of the different types in an attempt to better understand how MMP's can be used in cancer treatment.
Renal Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Is Essential for the Hypertension Induced by Nitric Oxide Synthesis Inhibition
Jorge F. Giani, Tea Janjulia, Nikhil Kamat,Dale M. Seth, Wendell-Lamar B. Blackwell, Kandarp H. Shah, Xiao Z. Shen, Sebastien Fuchs,§ Eric Delpire, Jorge E. Toblli, Kenneth E. Bernstein, Alicia A. McDonough,and Romer A. Gonzalez-Villalobos
-In this article, researchers investigate the role of renal ACE on hypertension induced by nitric oxide synthesis inhibition with L-NAME to better understand how local ACE affects the kidneys and, ultimately, blood pressure. This article references a previous study that showed that mice lacking renal ACE are resistant to the hypertension onset by angiotensin II infusion. In theis article's experiment, ACE 10/10 mice lacking renal ACE were compared to wild-type mice. The results of the experiment showed that in contrast to wild-type mice, ACE 10/10 mice did not develop hypertensionhad lower renal angiotensin II levels, and showed elevated natriuresis in response to L-NAME. Attached below is the article, as well as an analysis of Figure 6 in the article.
Novel perspectives in cancer therapy: Targeting ion channels
Annarosa Arcangeli, Andrea Becchetti
-This article discusses the importance of ion channels in cellular functions including cell signals such as action potentials and synaptic transmission as well as slower processes such as mitosis and cell migration. As a result of ion channels controlling cellular activities, it is now highly recognized that various channel types are involved in cancer hallmarks. Also, it has been discovered that manipulating certain ion channels leads to the prevention of cell proliferation.This finding proves that ion channels may be key pharmological targets in cancer therapy. The article goes on to propose that developing specific inhibitors to target channels in tumorous cells, drug delivery into the tumor cell using antibodies, combination regimen therapy, and blocking ion channels might lead to therapeutic benefits for cancer patients.