Long distance conduction of vasodilation: a passive or regenerative process?

Department of Neuroscience, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia. caryl.hill@anu.edu.au

Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994) 2012 Jul

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The mechanism enabling coordination of the resistance of feed arteries with microcirculatory arterioles to rapidly regulate tissue blood flow in line with changes in metabolic demand has preoccupied scientists for a quarter of a century. As experiments uncovered the underlying electrical events, it was frequently questioned how vasodilation could conduct over long distances without appreciable attenuation. This perspective reviews the data pertinent to this phenomenon and provides evidence that this remarkable response could be made possible by a simple mechanism based on the steep relationship between membrane potential and calcium entry demonstrated by the voltage-dependent calcium channels which mediate the control of vascular tone in vivo. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Citation

Caryl E Hill. Long distance conduction of vasodilation: a passive or regenerative process? Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994). 2012 Jul;19(5):379-90