| Literature DB >> 15458766 |
Jin Tao1, Hua'e Xu, Cui Yang, Chun-Na Liu, Shengnan Li.
Abstract
The newly isolated peptide, urocortin (UCN) has been found to have potent cardioprotective effects. In order to investigate the effect of UCN on L-type calcium currents (I(Ca,L)), exploring the mechanisms of UCN's cardioprotective effects, we directly measured the I(Ca,L) in the adult rat cardiac myocytes exposed to UCN using standard whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique. Our results showed that UCN exerted decreasing effects on the I(Ca,L) of the single adult rat cardiac myocytes. The current density was inhibited by about 35% after exposure of the cells to UCN (0.1 micromol L(-1)) for 10 min, from the control value of 7.19 +/- 1.44 pA/pF to 4.74 +/- 0.75 pA/pF (n = 5, P < 0.05). This I(Ca,L)-inhibiting action of UCN was concentration dependent. Moreover, no frequency dependence of UCN effects on I(Ca,L) was observed. In combination with previous reports, our results suggest that there might be a close relationship between the cardioprotective effects of UCN and L-type calcium channels.Entities:
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Year: 2004 PMID： 15458766 DOI： 10.1016/j.phrs.2004.05.006
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Pharmacol Res ISSN： 1043-6618 Impact factor: 7.658