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©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 14, 2009; 15(46): 5799-5804
Published online Dec 14, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.5799
Identification of TRPM7 channels in human intestinal interstitial cells of Cajal
Byung Joo Kim, Kyu Joo Park, Hyung Woo Kim, Seok Choi, Jae Yeoul Jun, In Youb Chang, Ju-Hong Jeon, Insuk So, Seon Jeong Kim
Byung Joo Kim, Hyung Woo Kim, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, South Korea
Kyu Joo Park, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea
Seok Choi, Jae Yeoul Jun, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju 501-759, South Korea
In Youb Chang, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju 501-759, South Korea
Ju-Hong Jeon, Insuk So, Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea
Seon Jeong Kim, Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim BJ, Park KJ, Kim HW, Choi S, and Kim SJ designed the research; Kim BJ, Park KJ, Jun JY, and Chang IY performed the research; Jeon JH and So I contributed new reagents and analytic tools; Kim BJ, So I and Kim SJ analyzed the data; and Kim BJ, So I, and Kim SJ wrote the paper.
Supported by The Creative Research Initiative Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in Korea
Correspondence to: Seon Jeong Kim, PhD, Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-Dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, South Korea. sjk@hanyang.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-2-22202321 Fax: +82-2-22912320
Received: August 6, 2009
Revised: September 24, 2009
Accepted: November 1, 2009
Published online: December 14, 2009
AIM: To investigate the characteristics of slow electrical waves and the presence of transient receptor potential melastatin-type 7 (TRPM7) in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
METHODS: Conventional microelectrode techniques were used to record intracellular electrical responses from human GI smooth muscle tissue. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify TRPM7 channels in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs).
RESULTS: The human GI tract generated slow electrical waves and had ICCs which functioned as pacemaker cells. Flufenamic acid, a nonselective cation channel blocker, and 2-APB (2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate) and La3+, TRPM7 channel blockers, inhibited the slow waves. Also, TRPM7 channels were expressed in ICCs in human tissue.
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the human GI tract generates slow waves and that TRPM7 channels expressed in the ICCs may be involved in the generation of the slow waves.
