Symposium for Smooth Muscle and Vascular Endothelium

Symposium for Smooth Muscle and Vascular Endothelium.

Role of endothelium in responses of vascular smooth muscle.

A FEW years ago, we discovered that the relaxation by acetylcholine (ACh) of isolated preparations of arteries precontracted by addition of an exogenous stimulating agent (e.g., norepinephrine) is strictly dependent on the presence of endothelial cells (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980a, 1980b; Furchgott et al., 1981; Furchgott, 1981). Our initial study was on the descending thoracic aorta of the r...

Inflammation and Vascular Calcification Causing Effects of Oxidized HDL are Attenuated by Adiponectin in Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

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...

Vascular smooth muscle updated.

• This brief review of the rapidly developing research on vascular smooth muscle presents the state of the art as I see it from within my own frame of reference. For a more objective, detailed insight into the workings of vascular smooth muscle, several substantial reviews and compendiums may be read (1-7). The mechanical events responsible for the contraction of vascular smooth muscle are asso...

Vascular Smooth Muscle

Recent observations in our laboratory suggest that angiotensin II (Ang II) is a bifunctional vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth modulator capable ofinducing hypertrophy or inhibiting mitogen-stimulated DNA synthesis. Because transforming growth factor-,61 (TGFfIi) has similar bifunctional effects onVSMC growth, we hypothesized that autocrine production of TGFfti may mediate the growth mo...