FIG. 5.

Contraction of bioengineered human pylorus constructs in response to acetylcholine (ACh) with or without tetrodotoxin pretreatment. Contraction of bioengineered constructs above basal tone in response to exogenous addition of ACh was assessed. (A) After establishment of basal tone, constructs further contracted upon addition of 1 μM ACh (black traces). (B) ACh-induced contraction was significantly diminished when the constructs were pretreated with tetrodotoxin (TTX; red traces). (C) Quantification of maximum force of contraction above basal tone by constructs demonstrated a significant decrease in ACh-induced contraction following pretreatment with TTX compared to ACh alone (*p < 0.05). (D) Pretreatment with TTX led to a significant decrease in area under the curve (AUC) of contraction in response to ACh (%inhibition of AUC with TTX = 66.4% ± 8.8%, *p < 0.05). Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea