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Regulation of Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation

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Biology of Vascular Smooth Muscle

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Abstract

The interaction of myosin and actin constitutes the basic mechanism of muscle contractile activity. In smooth muscle cells (SMCs) including vascular smooth muscle cells this interaction is predominantly regulated by the phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain (RLC) of myosin. The RLC is phosphorylated by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and dephosphorylated by myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP). Therefore, the contractility of SMCs is determined by the relative ratio of the activity of MLCK vs. that of MLCP. During a contractile response, MLCK is activated by calmodulin-bound Ca2+. Meanwhile, the activity of MLCP is suppressed by protein kinase C (PKC) through the 17-kDa PKC-potentiated inhibitor protein (CPI-17) and by Rho kinase (ROCK). The varied activities of these major signaling pathways endow SMCs with different contractile profiles such as phasic and tonic contractions to meet the diversified physiological requirements.

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  1. Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China

    Yuansheng Gao

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Gao, Y. (2022). Regulation of Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation. In: Biology of Vascular Smooth Muscle. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7122-8_12

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