人肠平滑肌细胞HISMC

Smooth muscle contraction is the fundamental event in gastrointestinal motion. Although many of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the excitation-contraction coup领 are not yet defined, it is known that cytosolic Ca2+ is the essential component in the coup领 phenomenon. Inflammation of the human intestine causes increased levels of smooth muscle-specific actin, which in turn promotes the thickening of the smooth muscle layers. The increased smooth muscle actin may affect force production and further demonstrates the plasticity of smooth muscle cells in the inflamed intestine. Studies also show that human intestinal smooth muscle cells (HISMC) respond to IL-1beta and TNF-alpha stimulation by releasing IL-6, which may significantly contribute to the overall systemic inflammatory response. The availability of HISMC makes it more feasible to study the contractile and proliferative tissue responses of human intestinal smooth muscle.