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...

RATIONALE Vascular smooth muscle turnover has important implications for blood vessel repair and for the development of cardiovascular diseases, yet lack of specific transgenic animal models has prevented it's in vivo analysis. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to characterize the dynamics and mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle turnover from the earliest stages of embryonic developm...

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...

We investigated the eff ects of urantide, a receptor antagonist of urotensin II (U-II), on the expression of U-II and its receptor GPR in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. Vascular smooth muscle cells from rat thoracic aorta were cultured by explant method. Subjects in this experiment were divided into eight groups: normal control group (group C), U-II group (group M), positive control group ...

We previously demonstrated that vascular smooth muscle cells possess a prominent Na+-K+-Cl- cotransport system that can be markedly stimulated by elevations in levels of intracellular cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP). Since others have shown that atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) can bind to specific membrane receptors and can enhance cGMP levels in vascular smooth muscle cells, we ask...

Aortic smooth muscle cells from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) exhibit inappropriate proliferation characteristics in culture that suggest a modified response to serum mitogens or growth factors. The present study compares vascular smooth muscle cells from SHR and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats with respect to their proliferative and functional response to growth factors. Specific ...

BACKGROUND Nestin was reported to directly contribute to cell proliferation and the intermediate filament protein was detected in vascular smooth muscle cells. In experimental type I diabetes, nestin downregulation in the heart was identified as an incipient pathophysiological event. The following study tested the hypothesis that dysregulation of nestin expression in vascular smooth muscle cell...

The vascular wall has the capacity to produce thromboxane A2. However, the role of vascular thromboxane A2 is still uncertain. In this study, we examined the relationship between vascular thromboxane A2 generation and vascular smooth muscle cell growth in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Vascular thromboxane A2 generation was significantly enhanced by 49% in 5-week-old and by 117% in 15-w...