Our studies showed that the signaling mechanisms governing vascular tone regulation possess a high degree of plasticity. Thus, with postnatal maturation 1) the anticontractile effect of the endothelium decreases (Gaynullina et al., 2013), 2) sympathetic nerves reduce arterial smooth muscle Ca2+-sensitivity (Puzdrova et al., 2014), 3) mRNA and miRNA expression changes in a correlated manner (Gaynullina et al., 2015), 4) Rho-kinase-mediated calcium sensitivity decreases (Mochalov et al., 2018), 5) Kv1, Kv7 and Kir2 channel mediated negative feedback of vasocontraction is reduced, in the case of Kv7 channels in part due to an increasing role of BK channels (Shvetsova et al., 2019; Ma et al., 2020), and 6) the TASK-1 channel mediated negative feedback of vasocontraction is lost (Shvetsova et al., 2020). Of note, an altered expression of signaling elements during maturation does not always translate into an altered functional role, as shown with MAP kinases (Gaynullina et al., 2021). These data have been summarized in two reviews (Gaynullina et al., 2019; Shvetsova et al., 2021).

References

Gaynullina, D., Dweep, H., Gloe, T., Tarasova, O. S., Sticht, C., Gretz, N., Schubert, R. (2015) Alteration of mRNA and microRNA expression profiles in rat muscular type vasculature in early postnatal development. Sci Rep 5, 11106

Gaynullina, D. K., Kudryashova, T. V., Vorotnikov, A. V., Schubert, R., Tarasova, O. S. (2021) MAPKs are highly abundant but do not contribute to α1-adrenergic contraction of rat saphenous arteries in the early postnatal period. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, 6037

Gaynullina, D., Lubomirov, L. T., Sofronova, S. I., Kalenchuk, V. U., Gloe, T., Pfitzer, G., Tarasova, O. S., Schubert, R. (2013) Functional remodelling of arterial endothelium during early postnatal development in rats. Cardiovasc Res 99, 612-21

Gaynullina, D. K., Schubert, R., Tarasova, O. S., (2019) Changes in Endothelial Nitric Oxide Production in Systemic Vessels during Early Ontogenesis. A Key Mechanism for the Perinatal Adaptation of the Circulatory System. Int J Mol Sci 20, 1421

Ma, D., Gaynullina, D. K., Schmidt, N., Mladenov, M., Schubert, R. (2020) The functional availability of arterial Kv7 channels is suppressed considerably by large-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels in 2- to 3-month old but not in 10- to 15-day old rats. Front Physiol 11, 597395

Mochalov, S. V., Tarasova, N. V., Kudryashova, T. V., Gaynullina, D. K., Kalenchuk, V. U., Borovik, A. S., Vorotnikov, A. V., Tarasova, O. S., Schubert, R. (2019) Higher Ca2+-sensitivity of arterial contraction in 1-week-old rats is due to a greater Rho-kinase activity. Acta Physiol 223, e13044

Puzdrova, V.A., Kudryashova, T.V., Gaynullina, D.K., Mochalov, S.V., Aalkjaer, C., Nilsson, H., Vorotnikov, A.V., Schubert, R., Tarasova, O.S. (2014) Trophic action of sympathetic nerves reduces arterial smooth muscle Ca2+-sensitivity during early postnatal development in rats. Acta Physiol 212, 128-141

Shvetsova, A. A., Gaynullina, D. K., Tarasova, O. S., Schubert, R. (2019) Negative feedback regulation of vasocontraction by potassium channels in 10-to 15-day-old rats: Dominating role of K(v)7 channels Acta Physiol 225, e13176

Shvetsova, A. A., Gaynullina, D. K., Tarasova, O. S., Schubert, R. (2021) Remodeling of arterial tone regulation in postnatal development: focus on smooth muscle cell potassium channels. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, 5413

Shvetsova, A., Gaynullina, D. K., Schmidt, N., Bugert, P., Lukoshkova, E. V., Tarasova, O. S., Schubert, R. (2020) TASK‐1 channel blockade by AVE1231 increases vasocontractile responses and BP in 1‐ to 2‐week‐old but not adult rats. Br J Pharmacol 177, 5148-5162