RATIONALE The molecular correlate of the calcium release-activated calcium current (I(CRAC)), the channel protein Orai1, is upregulated in proliferative vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). However, the role of Orai1 in vascular disease remains largely unknown. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to determine the role of Orai1 in neointima formation after balloon injury of rat carotid arteri...

Increasing evidence showed that abnormal proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are common event in the pathophysiology of many vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. Among the underlying mechanisms, oxidative stress is one of the principal contributors to the proliferation and migration of VSMCs. Oxidative stress occurs as a ...

Urokinase (uPA)-induced signaling in human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) elicits important cellular functional responses, such as cell migration and proliferation. However, how intracellular signaling is linked to glycolipid-anchored uPA receptor (uPAR) is unknown. We provide evidence that uPAR activation by uPA induces its association with platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)-...

Paeonol (Pae) has been previously reported to protect against atherosclerosis (AS) by inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation or vascular endothelial cell (VEC) injury. But studies lack how VSMCs and VECs interact when Pae plays a role. The current study was based on a coculture model of VSMCs and VECs to investigate the protective mechanisms of Pae on atherosclerosis (AS) b...

Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is postulated to be one of the key events in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and restenosis. We investigated whether YD-3, a lowmolecular weight, non-peptide compound, could modulate proliferation of VSMCs in vitro and restenosis after balloon angioplasty in vivo. We examined the effect of YD-3 on thrombininduced VSMC proliferation by [(...

Immune cell infiltration, vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, and apoptosis are pathological hallmarks of atherosclerosis. The multifocal, chronic, and inflammatory nature of this disease of the cardiovascular system complicates targeted cellular therapy and emphasizes the need to understand the role and interaction of immune cells with VSMCs. We characterized the immune cell subs...

Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) is a primary cause of vascular disorders and is associated with major alterations in Ca handling supported by loss of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase, SERCA2a. To determine the importance of SERCA2a in neointima formation, we have prevented loss of its expression by adenoviral gene transfer in a model of balloon injury of the r...

An early component of atherogenesis is abnormal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. The presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in many atherosclerotic lesions raises the possibility that this organism plays a causal role in atherogenesis. In this study, C pneumoniae elementary bodies (EBs) rapidly activated p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and stimulated proliferation o...

An early component of atherogenesis is abnormal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. The presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in many atherosclerotic lesions raises the possibility that this organism plays a causal role in atherogenesis. In this study, C pneumoniae elementary bodies (EBs) rapidly activated p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and stimulated proliferation o...

Cyclic nucleotides inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation but the underlying molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. We studied the role of S-phase kinase-associated protein-2 (Skp2), an F-box protein of SCFSkp2 ubiquitin ligase responsible for polyubiquitylation of and subsequent proteolysis of p27Kip1, a key step leading to cell cycle progression. Skp2 mRNA and pro...