Sodium–calcium exchange mediated contraction in left anterior descending and left ventricular branch arteries

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that the de-endothelialized artery rings from the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery and its left ventricular branch (LVB) differ in their contractile responses to Na(+)-Ca(2+)-exchanger (NCX) mediated Ca(2+)-entry, muscarinic receptor activation with carbachol, and sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) pump (SERCA) inhibition with thapsigargin. In LVB, the force of contraction (in N/g tissue) produced by the …