Epiregulin as a major autocrine/paracrine factor released from ERK- and p38MAPK-activated vascular smooth muscle cells.

Background: The coordinated activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) is critical for the induction of vascular and visceral smooth muscle cell (SMC) dedifferentiation. We previously reported that on the forced activation of both MAPKs, visceral SMCs secrete a non-heparin-binding protein factor(s) that is involved in the dedifferentiation of neighboring SMCs. In this study, we sought to identify the dedifferentiation factor(s) derived from vascular SMCs (VSMCs).

Vascular remodeling induced by naturally occurring unsaturated lysophosphatidic acid in vivo.

Background: We previously identified unsaturated (16:1, 18:1, and 18:2) but not saturated (12:0, 14:0, 16:0, and 18:0) lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) as potent factors for vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) dedifferentiation. Unsaturated LPAs strongly induce VSMC dedifferentiation via the coordinated activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK), resulting in the proliferation and migration of dedifferentiated VSMCs. Here, we investigated the effects of 18:1 and 18:0 LPAs (as representative unsaturated and saturated LPAs, respectively) on the vasculature in vivo.

Calcineurin-mediated pathway involved in the differentiated phenotype of smooth muscle cells.

The calcineurin-mediated pathway is involved in skeletal and cardiac hypertrophy and vascular development in vivo, but the relationship between this pathway and the phenotype of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) remains unknown. Using visceral SMCs in culture as a model system of differentiated SMCs, we investigated the role of the calcineurin-mediated pathway in maintaining the differentiated phenotype of SMCs, which depends on the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I)-triggered activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)/protein kinase B (PKB(Akt)) pathway. Treatment with calcineurin inhibitors, cyclosporin A or FK506, or the forced expression of the natural calcineurin inhibitor, CAIN, induced SMC dedifferentiation.