Interactions of Airway Smooth Muscle Cells with Their Tissue Matrix: Implications for Contraction

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Abstract
The ability of airway smooth muscle to alter its stiffness and contractility in response to mechanical oscillation and stretch is critically important for the regulation of normal airway responsiveness during breathing. The properties of mechanical adaptation in airway smooth muscle are proposed to result from dynamic cytoskeletal processes outside of the actomyosin interaction. The actomyosin interaction and crossbridge cycling are viewed as components of a complex and integrated array of cytoskeletal events that occur during cell contraction. These events are orchestrated by macromolecular protein complexes that associate with the cytoplasmic domains of integrin proteins at the adhesion junctions between muscle cells and the extracellular matrix. According to this paradigm, these concerted cytoskeletal events are essential components of the process of active tension generation in airway smooth muscle, and also serve to adapt the shape and stiffness of the smooth muscle cell to its environment. Contracti...