Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates the relationship between the mechanical properties of smooth muscle cells and the whole blood vessels. It explains how these properties might be related to those of the contractile apparatus. The small size of vascular smooth muscle cells has so far prevented mechanical experiments being performed on isolated cells. Therefore, the knowledge of the mechanical properties of vascular smooth muscle cells has to be inferred from the mechanical properties of whole vascular preparations. Some indication of the relationship of these properties to those of smooth muscle cells can be obtained from histological studies. However, the complex interconnection of the cells makes interpretation of such studies difficult. The experiment discussed in the chapter uses a small whole muscle preparation, namely, a 150-μm artery, which is transparent enough to permit visualization of the smooth muscle cells within it. This preparation helped to make a direct correlation between the behavior of the cells and the behavior of the preparation under various mechanical perturbations.
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