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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/10/2437    most recent jphysiol.2008.151522v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Wier, W. G. Articles by Zacharia, J. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wier, W. G. Articles by Zacharia, J. Related Collections Techniques for Physiology Cardiovascular

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore, 655 West Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA

FRET (Forster resonance energy transfer)-based biosensor molecules are powerful tools to reveal specific molecular interactions in cells. Typically however, they are used in cultured cells that (inevitably) express different genes than their counterparts in intact organisms. In such cells it may be impossible to administer physiological stimuli and measure physiological outputs. Here, through the use of transgenic mice that express a FRET-based myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) biosensor molecule, we report a technique for dynamically observing activation and regulation of MLCK within the smooth muscle cells of intact, functioning small arteries, together with measurement of arterial force production and intracellular [Ca²⁺].

(Received 23 January 2008; accepted after revision 20 March 2008; first published online 27 March 2008)
Corresponding author W. G. Wier: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore, 655 West Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Email: gwier001{at}umaryland.edu