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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Aug 11.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2011 Feb;24(1):13–20. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e3283421201

Figure 1. Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.

Figure 1

Experimental record (left) highlights three identified components that underpin the transient and tonic phases of hypoxia-induced constriction of an isolated pulmonary artery ring. In sequence, two discrete mechanisms enhance calcium release from the smooth muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (1, black; 2, grey) with a third component underpinned by the release of a vasoconstrictor from the endothelium (3, white). The mechanisms involved are described in further detail in the associated schematic (right): Kv, voltage-gated potassium current; NCX, sodium / calcium exchanger; RyR, ryanodine receptor; SERCA, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase; MLCK, myosin light chain kinase; MLC20, myosin light chain-20; MLCP, myosin phosphatase; ROCK, Rho associated kinase.