Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1976 Jan;254(1):55–62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011220

The effects of lanthanum and thulium on the mechanical responses of rat vas deferens.

V C Swamy, C R Triggle, D J Triggle
PMCID: PMC1309179  PMID: 1249752

Abstract

1. The contractile responses of rat vas deferens to noradrenaline and K+ are composed of phasic and tonic components both of which are dependent upon the concentration of extracellular Ca2+. 2. Lanthanum, La3+, and thulium ions, Tm3+, inhibited the noradrenaline and K+ induced responses, complete inhibition being obtained at approximately 10(-3) M-Ln3+. 3. La3+ and Tm3+ were equally effective in inhibiting noradrenaline and K+ responses. The phasic and tonic components of the noradrenaline response were equally sensitive to lanthanide cations, Ln3+, but the phasic component of the K+ response was more sensitive than the tonic component. 4. 170Tm binding did not show any saturable component over the concentration range in which inhibition of the pharmacological response was obtained. 5. It is suggested that the actions of Ln3+ in the rat vas deferens are mediated through some kind of membrane stabilization rather than via a specific Ca2+ binding site concerned with excitation-contraction coupling, the mechanism previously postulated for the Ln3+ action in guinea-pig ileal longitudinal muscle.

Full text

PDF
58

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersson K. E., Edman K. A. Effects of lanthanum on the coupling between membrane excitation and contraction of isolated frog muscle fibres. Acta Physiol Scand. 1974 Jan;90(1):113–123. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1974.tb05569.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chang K. J., Triggle D. J. Quantitative aspects of drug-receptor interactions. I. Ca2+ and cholinergic receptor activation in smooth muscle: a basic model for drug-receptor interactions. J Theor Biol. 1973 Jul;40(1):125–154. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(73)90168-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hartz T., Ulbricht W. Comparison of the effects of calcium and lanthanum on the crayfish giant axon. Pflugers Arch. 1973;345(4):281–294. doi: 10.1007/BF00585847. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hurwitz L., Suria A. The link between agonist action and response in smooth muscle. Annu Rev Pharmacol. 1971;11:303–326. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pa.11.040171.001511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Takata M., Pickard W. F., Lettvin J. Y., Moore J. W. Ionic conductance changes in lobster axon membrane when lanthanum is substituted for calcium. J Gen Physiol. 1966 Nov;50(2):461–471. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.2.461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Triggle C. R., Triggle D. J. An analysis of the action of cations of the lanthanide series on the mechanical responses of guinea-pig ileal longitudinal muscle. J Physiol. 1976 Jan;254(1):39–54. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Van Breemen C., Farinas B. R., Gerba P., McNaughton E. D. Excitation-contraction coupling in rabbit aorta studied by the lanthanum method for measuring cellular calcium influx. Circ Res. 1972 Jan;30(1):44–54. doi: 10.1161/01.res.30.1.44. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Vogel W. Calcium and lanthanum effects at the nodal membrane. Pflugers Arch. 1974;350(1):25–39. doi: 10.1007/BF00586736. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. van Breemen C., Farinas B. R., Casteels R., Gerba P., Wuytack F., Deth R. Factors controlling cytoplasmic Ca 2+ concentration. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1973 Mar 15;265(867):57–71. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1973.0009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES