ABSTRACT
Progress toward understanding the physiology of smooth muscle has been slow for several reasons. In most smooth muscle tissues, the cells are extremely small, electrically coupled to one another, often spontaneously active and complexed with large amounts of inelastic connective tissue. The technical problems posed by these factors are numerous and have been reviewed extensively (Tomita, 1970; Anderson, 1977; Attwell & Cohen, 1977; Beeler & McGuigan, 1978). It is clear that the nature of the tissue severely limits the types of experiments which can be performed and the interpretation of any data obtained. Recent efforts to circumvent these problems have increasingly focused on the development of isolated, single cell models. Thus far, isolated cells from Bufo (Bagby et al. 1971; Fay & Delise, 1973; Singer & Walsh, 1980), Mytilus (Ishii & Takahashi, 1982), Beroe (Hernandez-Nicaise, Mackie & Meech, 1980; Hernandez-Nicaise, Bilbaut, Malaval & Nicaise, 1982; Nicaise, Hernandez-Nicaise & Malaval, 1982) and Mnemiopsis (Anderson, 1984; Stein & Anderson, 1984) have been studied. These preparations have eliminated many of the complicating variables mentioned above and they have allowed the first simplified examination of smooth muscle cellular physiology.
