title: Modulation of pacemaker potentials by pyungwi-san in interstitial cells of cajal from murine small intestine: pyungwi-san and interstitial cells of cajal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pyungwi-san (PWS) plays a role in a number of physiologic and pharmacologic functions in many organs. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are pacemaker cells that generate slow waves in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of PWS in mouse small-intestinal ICCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Enzymatic digestion was used to dissociate ICCs from the small intestine of a mouse. The wholecell patch-clamp configuration was used to record membrane potentials from the cultured ICCs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ICCs generated pacemaker potentials in the GI tract. PWS produced membrane depolarization in the current clamp mode. Pretreatment with a Ca(2+) -free solution and a thapsigargin, a Ca(2+) -ATPase, inhibitor in the endoplasmic reticulum, eliminated the generation of pacemaker potentials. However, only when the thapsigargin was applied in a bath solution, the membrane depolarization was not produced by PWS. Furthermore, the membrane depolarizations due to PWS were inhibited not by U-73122, an active phospholipase C inhibitor, but by chelerythrine and calphostin C, protein kinase C inhibitors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that PWS might affect GI motility by modulating the pacemaker activity in the ICCs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Ho Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Kyu
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Joo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Pyungwi-san; gastrointestinal tract; interstitial cells of Cajal; pacemaker cell; traditional herbal medicine