Korean J Urol.
2005 Aug;46(8):867-872.
The Effects of Sex Steroids on the Maxi-K Channel Activity of Human Vas Deferens
- Affiliations
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- 1Departments of Urology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. uromyung@yahoo.co.kr
- 2Departments of Physiology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 3Departments of Family Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
- Purpose
We investigated the effects of sex steroids on the maxi-K channel activities of the single smooth muscle cells of the human vas deferens.
Materials and Methods
Human vas deferens cells were isolated using proteolytic enzymes (collagense and papain), and then they were employed for an electrophysiological study with using the inside-out patch clamp configurations. The intracellular calcium concentrations were adjusted between 0.1mum to 1mum, and the membrane potentials were depolarized.
Results
The maxi-K channels were identified by their single channel conductance and calcium dependency. The application of 10ng/dl estrogen induced a significant increment of the maxi-K channel activities. The effects were not affected by the change of the intracellular calcium concentration. The other sex steroids (progesterone and testosterone) rarely affected the maxi-K channel activities.
Conclusions
Estrogen has stimulatory effects on the maxi-K channel activity of human vas deferens. This suggests that estrogen may relax the human vas deferens via maxi-K channel activation.
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