BACKGROUND The A10 and A7r5 cell lines derived from the thoracic aorta of embryonic rat are widely used as models of non-differentiated, neonatal and neointimal vascular smooth muscle cells in culture. The recent discovery of resident multipotent vascular stem cells within the vessel wall has necessitated the identity and origin of these vascular cells be revisited. In this context, we examined...

Virtually all smooth muscle genes analyzed to date contain two or more essential binding sites for serum response factor (SRF) in their control regions. Because SRF is expressed in a wide range of cell types, it alone cannot account for smooth muscle-specific gene expression. We show that myocardin, a cardiac muscle- and smooth muscle-specific transcriptional coactivator of SRF, can activate sm...

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miRNA-146a in modulating the function of vascular smooth muscle cells in a rat model of coronary heart disease. Vascular smooth muscle cells were isolated and cultured from the rat coronary heart disease model and normal rats (controls). miRNA-146a levels were measured in vascular smooth muscle cells obtained from rats with coronary heart dis...

although the etiology of varicose veins remains unknown, recent studies have focused on endothelial cell integrity and function because the endothelium regulates vessel tone and synthesizes many pro- and anti-inflammatory factors. the aim of this study was to investigate the evidence involving the endothelium in the development of varicose vein disease. in addition, tissue remodeling was invest...

A simple 30-min enzyme digestion procedure has been used to release guinea-pig tracheal smooth muscle cells that retain differentiated function in long-term subculture . Primary cell cultures initially consist of numerous 'a colonies and 70-1000 morphologically differentiated smooth muscle cells per 600 mg (wet weight) tracheal tissue depending on the age of the animal . Both cell types prolife...

Vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation plays a major role in the development of numerous vascular pathologies. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate smooth muscle cell proliferation is therefore essential for the development of new therapies for the treatment of these pathologies. Skp2 is an F-box protein component of the SCFSkp2 ubiquitin-ligase that controls cellular prolife...

The transcription coactivator myocardin works with the transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) to regulate an array of smooth muscle marker genes, and is believed to be a factor necessary and sufficient for vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation. Calcification of smooth muscle cells in artery walls is found to be one of the main hallmarks of cardiovascular disease and chroni...

Undifferentiated mesenchymal cells were isolated from mouse embryonic lungs and plated at subconfluent and confluent densities. During the first 5 hours in culture, all the cells were negative for smooth muscle markers. After 24 hours in culture, the mesenchymal cells that spread synthesized smooth muscle alpha-actin, muscle myosin, desmin and SM22 in levels comparable to those of mature smooth...

Abnormal mechanical forces can trigger aberrant proliferation of endothelial and smooth muscle cells, as observed in the progression of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. It has been previously shown that cells can sense physical forces such as stretch through adhesions to the extracellular matrix. Here, we set out to examine whether cell-cell adhesions are also involved in transducing ...