The contraction of smooth muscle is an essential process underpinning diverse physiological functions ranging from gastrointestinal motility to vascular regulation. At its core, smooth muscle ...

Using powerful new visualization technologies, researchers have captured the first 3-D images of the structure of a key muscle receptor, providing new insights on how muscles develop across the animal ...

The mechanism of skeletal muscle contraction is a process that relies on calcium signaling. However, the physiological role of calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) through the ryanodine receptor ...

A research group led by Dr. Keisuke Obara, Dr. Kento Yoshioka, and Professor Yoshio Tanaka from the Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, has ...

Researchers engineered mice with a mutation (E3896A) in the RyR1 calcium-binding site, eliminating calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) without affecting depolarization-induced calcium release. The ...

Researchers at the University of Liège, Eric Parmentier and Marc Thiry have just made the unexpected discovery of a novel organisation of muscle fibres in Parophidion vassali, a fish that lives in the ...

A research group has uncovered important details about how platelet-activating factor (PAF)—a powerful molecule involved in inflammation and allergic reactions—triggers contractions in the smooth ...

Researchers have just made the unexpected discovery of a novel organization of muscle fibers in Parophidion vassali, a fish that lives in the Mediterranean Sea and, like many fish, uses specialized ...