{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T00:00:55Z","timestamp":1791158455179,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,11,4]],"date-time":"2013-11-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1383523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Experimental Physiology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2014,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>New Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:list list-type=\"bullet\">\n<jats:list-item><jats:p><jats:bold>What is the topic of this review?<\/jats:bold><\/jats:p>\n<jats:p>This report discusses current work on the cytoskeletal dynamics in myometrial smooth muscle and its possible connection to the function of the myometrium in the setting of normal and preterm labour.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<jats:list-item><jats:p><jats:bold>What advances does it highlight?<\/jats:bold><\/jats:p>\n<jats:p>The report highlights findings from my research group on changes in focal adhesion dynamics and extracellular signal\u2010regulated kinase signalling in both rodent and human pregnancy that appear to be a contributing cause of the onset of labour.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<\/jats:list><\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:label\/><jats:p>Multiple mechanisms have been shown to regulate the onset of labour in a co\u2010operative and complex manner. One factor, myometrial stretch and associated increases in wall tension, has been implicated clinically in the initiation of labour and especially the aetiology of preterm labour. Recent work on the mechanisms involved has led to the finding that the intracellular Ca<jats:sup>2+<\/jats:sup> requirement for activation of the myometrial contractile filaments increases during gestation. The decreased Ca<jats:sup>2+<\/jats:sup> sensitivity correlates with an increase in the expression of caldesmon, an actin\u2010binding protein and inhibitor of myosin activation, during pregnancy. In late pregnancy, an increase in extracellular signal\u2010regulated kinase\u2010mediated caldesmon phosphorylation occurs, which appears to reverse the inhibitory action of caldesmon during labour. Force generated by the myometrial contractile filaments is communicated across the plasmalemma to the uterine wall through focal adhesions. Phospho\u2010tyrosine screening and mass spectrometry of stretched myometrial samples identified several stretch\u2010activated focal adhesion proteins. This Src\u2010mediated focal adhesion signalling appears to provide a tunable, i.e. regulated, tension sensor and force transmitter in the myometrial cell. In other parallel studies, biophysical measurements of smooth muscle compliance at both the cellular and tissue levels suggest that decreases in cellular compliance due to changing interactions of the actin cytoskeleton with the focal adhesions may also promote increases in uterine wall tension. These results, taken together, suggest that focal adhesion proteins and their interaction with the cytoskeleton may present a new mode of regulation of uterine contractility.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1113\/expphysiol.2013.072876","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,10,12]],"date-time":"2013-10-12T03:28:22Z","timestamp":1381548502000},"page":"525-529","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["The importance of the smooth muscle cytoskeleton to preterm labour"],"prefix":"10.1113","volume":"99","author":[{"given":"Kathleen G.","family":"Morgan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sargent College Boston University  Boston MA USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,11,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1113\/jphysiol.1965.sp007591"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/ncb0411-344"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M109.002386"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00003081-198409000-00007"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/35099066"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1113\/jphysiol.1996.sp021619"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/jm800483v"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.271.2.695"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1135085"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jcb.21033"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/ajpregu.00290.2002"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/ajpregu.00042.2004"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0007489"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ceb.2006.08.011"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13656","DOI":"10.1016\/S0021-9258(18)89793-9","article-title":"Inhibition of smooth muscle actin\u2010activated myosin Mg2+\u2010ATPase activity by caldesmon","volume":"259","author":"Ngai PK","year":"1984","journal-title":"J Biol Chem"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejogrb.2009.02.010"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2826.2008.01668.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0021542"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0062461"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1933719112446084"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.siny.2010.06.006"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semcancer.2007.08.002"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0063800"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejogrb.2009.02.011"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2006-956777"}],"container-title":["Experimental Physiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/api.wiley.com\/onlinelibrary\/tdm\/v1\/articles\/10.1113%2Fexpphysiol.2013.072876","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1113\/expphysiol.2013.072876","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,1]],"date-time":"2023-10-01T20:23:40Z","timestamp":1696191820000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1113\/expphysiol.2013.072876"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2013,11,4]]},"references-count":25,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2014,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1113\/expphysiol.2013.072876"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1113\/expphysiol.2013.072876","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0958-0670","1469-445X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0958-0670","type":"print"},{"value":"1469-445X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2013,11,4]]}}}