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...

It is generally accepted that the de-differentiation of smooth muscle cells, from the contractile to the proliferative/synthetic phenotype, has an important role during vascular remodelling and diseases. Here we provide evidence that challenges this theory. We identify a new type of stem cell in the blood vessel wall, named multipotent vascular stem cells. Multipotent vascular stem cells expres...

Tardif K, Hertig V, Duquette N, Villeneuve L, El-Hamamsy I, Tanguay J, Calderone A. Nestin upregulation characterizes vascular remodeling secondary to hypertension in the rat. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 308: H1265–H1274, 2015. First published March 13, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00804.2014.—Proliferation and hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells represent hallmark features of vessel ...

AIM To explore this hypothesis that smooth muscle cells may be capable of acquiring a myofibroblastic phenotype, we have studied the expression of smoothelin in fibrotic conditions. METHODS Normal liver tissue (n = 3) was obtained from macroscopically normal parts of hepatectomy, taken at a distance from hemangiomas. Pathological specimens included post-burn cutaneous hypertrophic scars (n = ...

The purpose of this study was to gain more information on the structure of different layers of renal arteryand comparing these structures in post-natal male and female sheep. To do so, right and left renal arteries of6 adult and 6 newborn animals were dissected; the middle parts of arteries were only collected. After tissueprocessing using paraffin embedding method, 5–6-μm sections were cut and...

To determine whether vascular smooth muscle cells around intestinal arterioles of various sizes undergo comparable changes in spontaneously hypertensive rats, 4- to 6-week-old (n = 10) and 17- to 19-week-old (n = 10) rats from the Wistar-Kyoto and the spontaneously hypertensive strains were used to study the external morphology of vascular smooth muscle cells by scanning electron microscopy and...

Tumor vessels often lack the smooth muscle layer, and the instability is conducive to tumor invasion and metastasis. The effect of tumor microenvironment on vascular smooth muscle cells needs to be explored. In the present study, we examined the density of the tumor vessels in human colorectal cancer tissues, and used the tumor conditioned medium of human colorectal cancer HT29 cells to mimic t...

Background & Aims: Atherosclerosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Adiponectin reducesthe risk of heart disease, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is involved in the formation and development of atherosclerotic plaque. The aim of this study was the investigation of the effect of adiponectin on MMP-9 gene expression. It seems this hormone can reduce the risk of atherosclerosis ...

The role of oxidized high-density lipoprotein (oxHDL) and the protective effects of adiponectin in terms of vascular calcification is not well established. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of oxHDL with regards to inflammation and vascular calcification and to determine the protective role of adiponectin in attenuating the detrimental effects of oxHDL. Cell viability, mineral...

BACKGROUND The origins of neointimal smooth muscle cells that arise following vascular injury remains controversial. Studies have suggested that these cells may arise from previously differentiated medial vascular smooth muscle cells, resident stem cells or blood born progenitors. In the current study we examined the contribution of the previously differentiated vascular smooth muscle cells to ...