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Updated: Oct 7, 2026

Isolation of Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells from Neonatal Mice
Published on: October 19, 2013
Oxygen dilation in fetal pulmonary arterioles: role of K(+) channels
1Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. john.gosche@yale.edu
Background:
Oxygen is a potent stimulus for pulmonary vasodilation. Potassium channels have been implicated as both sensors and effectors for oxygen-induced changes in pulmonary vascular tone. We have examined the effect of potassium channel blockers on oxygen-induced vasodilation in isolated pulmonary arterioles from fetal rats at term.
Materials And Methods:
Third generation pulmonary arterioles were isolated from fetal rats on Day 22 of gestation, cannulated, pressurized at constant distending pressures, and preconstricted by suffusion with a salt solution bubbled with a "hypoxic gas" mixture (pO(2)
Results:
In control arterioles, normoxic suffusion for 30 min reversed hypoxic preconstriction by 83 +/- 19%. 4-aminopyridine significantly attenuated (44 +/- 9%), and glibenclamide and charybdotoxin had no effect (80 +/- 16 and 79 +/- 20%) on the magnitude of normoxic vasodilation.
Conclusions:
Our results are consistent with a contribution of K(v) channels, but not K(ATP) or K(Ca) channels, to oxygen-induced vasodilation in third generation pulmonary arterioles from term fetal rats.
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