Relationship between Intracellular Ca2+ Store and Protein Kinase C in Agonist-Induced Contraction of Hypertensive Rat Aortae

The roles of intracellular Ca2+ store and protein kinase C (PKC) in vascular contractile responses independent of Ca2+ influx were studied using aortic rings from spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY). The functional sizes of agonist-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ store were estimated as the peak response to agonist after PKC inhibition with calphostin C (Cal-C), a PKC inhibitor. The participation of PKC in …