Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

Bladder Smooth Muscle Strip Contractility as a Method to Evaluate Lower Urinary Tract Pharmacology
Published on: August 18, 2014
Neuronal-derived nitric oxide modulates the activity of mouse detrusor smooth muscle
1Department of Surgery, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. en.meng@gmail.com
Aims:
We investigated the roles of neuronal-derived nitric oxide (NO) in the modulation of spontaneous activity of mouse detrusor smooth muscle.
Methods:
Detrusor smooth muscle strips were isolated from nNOS gene knock-out (nNOS(-/-) ) mice and their wild type siblings (nNOS(+/+) ). The properties of smooth muscle cells were assessed using intracellular electrophysiology and Ca(2+) imaging by laser-scanning confocal microscopy. The effects of an nNOS inhibitor, 7-nitro indazole (7-NI) on electrically evoked contractility were assessed using nNOS(+/+) mouse detrusor strips.
Results:
In spontaneously active cells, the frequency of spontaneous action potentials (sAPs) and whole cell Ca(2+) flashes in nNOS(-/-) preparations was lower than that in the nNOS(+/+) preparations. The frequency of sAPs was enhanced by a nitric oxide donor, diethylamine NONOate sodium salt (NONOate; 100 µM), both when used alone and when the cGMP pathway was blocked by 1H-[1,2,4] oxadiazolo [4,3-a] quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 10 µM). 7-NI (100 µM) significantly suppressed the electrically evoked contraction of mouse detrusor strips.
Conclusions:
We suggest that neuronal-derived NO facilitates the generation of spontaneous activity via a cGMP-independent pathway, and consequently enhances the evoked contraction of detrusor. Dysregulation of nNOS containing nerves may underlie bladder pathologies.
More Related Videos
06:36A Decentralized (Ex Vivo) Murine Bladder Model with the Detrusor Muscle Removed for Direct Access to the Suburothelium during Bladder Filling
Published on: November 28, 2019
08:30Preparation and Utilization of Freshly Isolated Human Detrusor Smooth Muscle Cells for Characterization of 9-Phenanthrol-Sensitive Cation Currents
Published on: January 31, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Nitric Oxide Signaling Pathway
Antihypertensive Drugs: Vasodilators
Enteric Nervous System: Regulation of GI Motor Activity
During periods of fasting, the ENS initiates the migrating myoelectric complex, a program...
The Micturition Reflex
The process begins with bladder filling, where the bladder wall stretches as urine accumulates. This stretching activates the urine storage reflex, mediated by the sacral spinal segments and the pontine storage center. Efferent sympathetic impulses stimulate the detrusor muscle to relax and the internal urethral sphincter to contract, facilitating urine...
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Pharmacological Actions
Neural Regulation