Regulation of Differentiation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.
Owens, Gary K.
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of
Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
APStracts 2:0004P, 1995.
ABSTRACT
The vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) in mature animals is a highly
specialized cell whose principal function is contraction. The fully
differentiated or mature SMC proliferates at an extremely low rate and is a
cell almost completely geared for contraction. It expresses a unique
repertoire of contractile proteins, ion channels, and signaling molecules that
are required for its contractile function and that when taken in aggregate
clearly distinguish it from any other cell type. During vasculogenesis,
however, the SMC's principal function is proliferation and production of
matrix components of the blood vessel wall. Moreover, even in mature animals,
the SCM retains remarkable plasticity, such that it can undergo relatively
rapid and reversible changes in its phenotype in response to changes in local
environmental cues normally required for maintenance of its differentiated
state. A key to understanding SMC differentiation, is to identify the key
enviromental signals and factors that induce or maintain the differentiated
state of the SMC and to determine the molecular mechanisms that control the
coordinate expression of genes encoding for proteins that are necessary for
the contractile function of the SMC. The purpose of this review is to
summarize our current knowledge of the regulation of the SMC differentiation,
with a particular emphasis on consideration of how this process is controlled
during normal vascular development and how theses control processes might be
altered in vascular diseases such as artherlsclerosis, which are
characterized by marked alterations in the differentiated state of the SMC.
APS Manuscript Number P-0004-5.
Article publication scheduled July 1995 Physiological Reviews.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 16 May 1995.