Calcium utilization by dispersed canine gastric smooth muscle cells

Smooth muscle cells were isolated by collagenase digestion from the circular layer of the canine gastric corpus, and cell length was measured by image-splitting micrometry. Cells contracted following incubation with KCl, carbachol, and pentagastrin. While contraction induced by 40 mM KCl was inhibited by adding nitrendipine (10 nM) or by removing extracellular calcium and adding EGTA (2 mM), the contraction induced by carbachol (10 pM) was not …