Ann Pharmacol Pharm | Volume 5, Issue 1 | Review Article | Open Access

Edith Bulbring: (27 December 1903 to 5 July 1990): A Pioneer in the Development of Smooth Muscle Physiology as a Biomedical Discipline

Ronald P Rubin^*

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Buffalo, USA

^*Correspondance to: Ronald P Rubin 

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Abstract

Edith Bulbring’s success as a scientific investigator was attributed to her willingness to investigate smooth muscle, which most colleagues were unwilling to undertake. As a result, she greatly expanded our knowledge of smooth muscle physiology. In addition to succeeding in recording simultaneously membrane potentials, action potentials, and contraction, Bulbring correlated frequency of spike discharge with smooth muscle tension. She also enhanced our knowledge about the action of neurotransmitters and smooth muscle function, and the uncoupling between electrical and mechanical events. Bulbring provided the first evidence that action potentials in smooth muscle were dependent upon Ca2+ entry, rather than Na+, a sin skeletal muscle and nerve. However, perhaps Edith Bulbring left behind an even more valuable legacy by initiating a global interest in smooth muscle research, which laid the foundations upon which investigations of smooth muscle at the cellular level are based.

Citation:

Rubin RP. Edith Bulbring: (27 December 1903 to 5 July 1990): A Pioneer in the Development of Smooth Muscle Physiology as a Biomedical Discipline. Ann Pharmacol Pharm. 2020;5(1):1172.