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  • © 2019

Smooth Muscle Spontaneous Activity

Physiological and Pathological Modulation

  • Detailed, up-to-date information on smooth muscle function
  • Systematically organized by body systems and organs
  • Explanation of commonalities and differences between organs
  • Clarification of the role of smooth muscle in disease
  • Exploration of contractile mechanisms as therapeutic targets

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (AEMB, volume 1124)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
  2. Gastrointestinal Tract

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Generation of Spontaneous Tone by Gastrointestinal Sphincters

      • Kathleen Keef, Caroline Cobine
      Pages 47-74
  3. Urinary Tract

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75
    2. Spontaneous Activity and the Urinary Bladder

      • Christopher H. Fry, Karen D. McCloskey
      Pages 121-147
    3. Spontaneous Activity in Urethral Smooth Muscle

      • Gerard P. Sergeant, Mark A. Hollywood, Keith D. Thornbury
      Pages 149-167
  4. Reproductive Organs

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169
    2. Ion Channels and Intracellular Calcium Signalling in Corpus Cavernosum

      • Keith D. Thornbury, Mark A. Hollywood, Gerard P. Sergeant
      Pages 171-194
    3. Generation and Regulation of Spontaneous Contractions in the Prostate

      • Basu Chakrabarty, Sophie Lee, Betty Exintaris
      Pages 195-215
    4. Mucosa-Dependent, Stretch-Sensitive Spontaneous Activity in Seminal Vesicle

      • Mitsue Takeya, Tokumasa Hayashi, Hikaru Hashitani, Makoto Takano
      Pages 217-231
    5. The Myometrium: From Excitation to Contractions and Labour

      • Susan Wray, Clodagh Prendergast
      Pages 233-263
    6. Myosalpinx Contractions Are Essential for Egg Transport Along the Oviduct and Are Disrupted in Reproductive Tract Diseases

      • Rose E. Dixon, Sung Jin Hwang, Bo Hyun Kim, Kenton M. Sanders, Sean M. Ward
      Pages 265-294
  5. Blood Vessels

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 295-295
    2. Cellular and Ionic Mechanisms of Arterial Vasomotion

      • William C. Cole, Grant R. Gordon, Andrew P. Braun
      Pages 297-312
    3. Venous Vasomotion

      • Dirk F. van Helden, Mohammad S. Imtiaz
      Pages 313-328
    4. Lymphatic Vessel Pumping

      • Pierre-Yves von der Weid
      Pages 357-377

About this book

This book presents the commonality and heterogeneity of the mechanisms underlying smooth muscle spontaneous activity in various smooth muscle organs and in addition discusses their malfunctions in disease and their potential as novel therapeutic targets. To facilitate understanding, the volume is divided into five parts and covers 16 organs: airways, gastrointestinal tract (phasic muscle, tonic muscle), renal pelvis, ureter, urinary bladder, urethra, corporal tissue, prostate, uterus, oviducts, seminal vesicle, artery, vein, microvasculature, and lymphatic vessels. This structure will help readers to comprehend the most up-to-date information on the similarities and differences in the contractile mechanisms driving various smooth muscles as well as their potential manipulations in particular visceral organ pathologies. The vast advancements in gene, electrical recording, and imaging technologies in this field are also discussed, with review of past achievements and consideration oflikely future developments. This book will be of worldwide interest to clinicians, students, and researchers alike. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan

    Hikaru Hashitani

  • Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Richard J. Lang

About the editors

Hikaru Hashitani has been Professor of Cell Physiology at Nagoya City University since 2010.  He received his medical degree from Kyushu University, completed his PhD at Nagoya City University, and then studied at Melbourne University and University of Oxford.  His research interests have primarily focused on cellular mechanisms underlying spontaneous electrical and calcium signalling in smooth muscle of the genitourinary, gastrointestinal and microvascular systems.


Richard Lang received his PhD at Monash University in 1979. He was an MRC Research Officer and Fellow at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London. He returned to Monash University as a Research Fellow and has continued as a Senior Research Fellow. Throughout, he has been interested in the role membrane ion channels and calcium play in pacemaker and tone generation in both gastrointestinal and urogenital organs.


Hikaru Hashitani and Richard Lang have collaborated for over 20 years, exchanging a number of graduate students for short term visits and one PhD graduate on a  JSPS Fellowship. Over this time, we have together published 20 papers and numerous conference abstracts on the electrical and calcium signalling properties of the renal pelvis, urethra and prostate.  This collaboration is a continuation of a long-held tradition of international collaboration between British, Japanese and Australian smooth muscle researchers that originated by our mentors in Oxford University in the 1960s.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access