Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered a basic mechanism by which smooth muscle cells that line the blood vessels can grow - sometimes abnormally - suggesting methods of treatment for various coronary diseases. Abnormal growth of cells inside blood vessels is involved in hypertension, coronary artery disease, tumors called leiosarcomas and other conditions.
"By understanding this detailed mechanism, it is now possible to begin to design therapies to interfere with it and thereby potentially prevent various vascular disorders in humans," said Dr. Eric Olson, chairman of molecular biology and senior author of the paper. The work appears in the August issue of the journal Developmental Cell.
There are three types of muscles in the body - skeletal, cardiac and smooth. Smooth cells make up the stomach, intestine, blood vessels and other organs. Unlike the skeletal and cardiac muscles, smooth muscle cells can either rest in their final form, which allows vessels to contract, or they can divide into new cells.