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Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Contractility Measurements of Human Uterine Smooth Muscle to Aid Drug Development
Published on: January 26, 2018
Receptor-coupled contractility of uterine smooth muscle: from membrane to myofilaments
Y H Lee1, M K Hwang, K G Morgan
1Department of Physiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Abstract:
A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which agonists control uterine contraction is essential for the successful clinical management of parturition and for the timely treatment of situations involving inappropriate uterine performance. In this review we discuss some of the key stimulatory mechanisms linking receptor occupation at the myometrial plasma membrane with alteration of myofilament activation. We focus on evidence that receptor-induced membranous recruitment of the small G-protein rhoA, and its downstream effector rho-associated kinase (ROK) is crucial to agonist-induced Ca(2+)-sensitisation of uterine contraction and that co-ordination of this signal transduction pathway may be mediated by the actions of caveolins, proteins integral to specialised membranous regions termed caveolae. Experimental Physiology (2001) 86.2, 283-288.
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