Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Isolation of Murine Coronary Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
08:24

Isolation of Murine Coronary Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Published on: May 30, 2016

14.8K

The first digestive movements in the embryo are mediated by mechanosensitive smooth muscle calcium waves

Nicolas R Chevalier1

  • 1Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris Diderot/CNRS UMR 7057, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75013 Paris, France nicolas.chevalier@univ-paris-diderot.fr.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|September 26, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Embryonic gut peristalsis relies on cell-to-cell calcium waves, not mechanical tension. These waves, triggered by stimuli, are the earliest form of digestive movement in developing embryos.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Physiology
  • Cell Signaling

Background:

  • Peristalsis is crucial for food transport in the gut.
  • The underlying mechanisms of embryonic gut motility are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the primitive form of peristalsis in the embryonic gut.
  • To determine the role of calcium waves and mechanosensitivity in early gut movements.

Main Methods:

  • Dynamic ex vivo intracellular calcium imaging on living embryonic gut explants.
  • Application of external mechanical stimuli to assess mechanosensitivity.
  • Analysis of contractile wave propagation and characteristics.

Main Results:

  • Embryonic peristalsis originates from intercellular, gap-junction-dependent calcium waves in the circular smooth muscle layer.
  • The embryonic gut is intrinsically mechanosensitive, with stimuli triggering contractile waves.
  • Wave annihilation, mechanosensitivity, and nucleation are explained by calcium wave properties.
  • Intercellular mechanical tension does not drive gut contractile wave propagation.

Conclusions:

  • Calcium waves form the basis of digestive movements in the developing embryo.
  • Embryonic gut motility is an early precursor to the adult peristaltic reflex.
  • The findings elucidate fundamental mechanisms of developmental biomechanics.

Keywords:
calcium imagingembryonic gutgap junctionsmechanosensitivitymotilityperistalsis

More Related Videos

Focal Ca2+ Transient Detection in Smooth Muscle17:41

Focal Ca2+ Transient Detection in Smooth Muscle

Published on: June 29, 2009

11.7K
Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation08:43

Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation

Published on: May 31, 2016

20.3K

Related Concept Videos

Functions of Smooth Muscles01:23

Functions of Smooth Muscles

Smooth muscles are an important type of muscle tissue that plays a vital role in the involuntary movements of internal organs. For example, they help regulate the movement of food through the gut and the flow of blood through the circulatory system.
Function of visceral smooth muscles
Visceral smooth muscle is found in the walls of all hollow organs, except the heart, and is a key player in the involuntary movements that drive the functioning of these internal organs. This tissue is arranged in...
3.4K
Smooth Muscle Contraction01:25

Smooth Muscle Contraction

Smooth muscle contraction is a complex process vital for various bodily functions, from maintaining blood vessel tension to facilitating the movement of food through the digestive tract. Unlike striated muscles, smooth muscle contraction begins more slowly and lasts longer.
The onset of contraction is triggered by an increase in calcium ions within the sarcoplasm, similar to the process in striated muscle. However, smooth muscles have a relatively smaller reservoir of the sarcoplasmic...
7.8K
Structure and Organization of Smooth Muscles01:13

Structure and Organization of Smooth Muscles

Smooth muscle tissue is a type of muscle tissue that can be found lining various vital organs in the human body, including the lungs, blood vessels, digestive tract, and respiratory tract. This type of tissue is responsible for regulating the movements of these organs, playing crucial roles in the functioning of various systems, including the vascular, digestive, respiratory, and urinary systems.
Structure of smooth muscle cell
Smooth muscle cells are spindle-shaped with tapering ends and a...
8.7K
What is Monogastric Digestion?01:50

What is Monogastric Digestion?

The human body contains a monogastric digestive system. In a monogastric digestive system, the stomach only contains one chamber in which it digests food. Several other animal species also have monogastric digestive systems, including pigs, horses, dogs, and birds. This chapter, however, focuses on the human digestive system.
75.3K
The Wave Nature of Light02:12

The Wave Nature of Light

The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.
61.4K
Carbohydrate Digestion00:57

Carbohydrate Digestion

Carbohydrate digestion and metabolism break down simple and complex carbohydrates from food into saccharides (i.e., sugars) for the body to use as energy. Carbohydrate digestion starts in the mouth during mastication, or chewing. The masticated carbohydrates remain intact in the stomach. Digestion resumes in the duodenum of the small intestine, where pancreatic alpha-amylase and brush border enzymes of the microvilli convert complex carbohydrates to monosaccharides. Finally, the monosaccharides...
122.5K