Abstract
In the last two decades it has been shown that endothelial cells, especially microvascular endothelial cells possess contractile filaments (Becker 1969; Drenckhan et al., 1986). Investigations revealed a varying amount of microtubules and microfilaments within the cytoplasm of the endothelial cells (for review, Hammersen, 1980). The composition of such microfilaments has been identified by immunostaining with an tibodies which are specific for actin, myosin, alpha-actinin and tropomyosin by Drenckhan (1983 and 1986) in mammilian endothelial cells. The discovery of such contractile elements in the endothelial cells supports the findings of many researchers, who demonstrated a regulation of capillaries by endothelial cell motility By means of vitalmicroscopical studies in mesenterial capillaries of different species (Zweifach et al., 1934; Joris et al., 1972; Addicks et al., 1979; Lubbers et al., 1979; Weigelt and Schwarzmann, 1981; Wolff and Dietrich, 1985) Results from DeClerk et al. (1981) and Morel et al. (1989) show that a lot of mediators relax and contract endothelial cells in culture.
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Bloch, W., Hoever, D., Addicks, K. (1995). Stimulation of Endogenous No-Production Influences the Dilation of the Capillary Microvasculature in Vivo. In: Weissman, B.A., Allon, N., Shapira, S. (eds) Biochemical, Pharmacological, and Clinical Aspects of Nitric Oxide. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1903-4_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1903-4_18
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