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- Title
Cardiac α-actin in smooth muscle cells: detection in umbilical cord vessels and in atherosclerotic lesions.
- Authors
Bea, Florian; Bär, Harald; Watson, Lisa; Blessing, Erwin; Kübler, Wolfgang; Kreuzer, Jörg; Jahn, Lothar
- Abstract
Phenotypic modulation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) is a key event during the development of atherosclerotic and restenotic lesions. During this process, the composition of the cytoskeleton is substantially altered, with changes predominantly in actin expression reflecting a shift from smooth muscle α-actin to the non-muscle β-isoform. We now demonstrate that yet another actin isoform, cardiac α-actin, is synthesized, de novo, in SMC of various atherosclerotic lesions. Using a highly specific monoclonal antibody against cardiac α-actin, we analyzed and compared the accumulation of this actin isoform in diverse SMC by immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoblotting. As expect, cardiac α-actin was present in human myocardium but not in healthy SMC of adult aorta, coronary arteries, trabeculae of the spleen, colon, stomach or skeletal muscle. Interestingly, the presence of cardiac α-actin was detected in umbilical cord vessels, human myometrium, in atherosclerotic coronary lesions and atherosclerotic lesions from peripheral vascular disease. The distribution of cardiac α-actin often paralleled that of cytokeratins 8 and 18, intermediate filament proteins typically found in dedifferentiated SMC. Taken together, the data presented here illustrate the expression of cardiac α-actin to be limited to either fetal vessels or those vessels or tissue having suffered damage or atrophy, outside its ‘native’ environment in the heart. The demonstration of cardiac α-actin in SMC of umbilical cord vessels and in atherosclerotic lesions but not in apparently healthy vessels supports the notion that SMC in atherosclerotic lesions exhibit a dedifferentiated phenotype.
- Subjects
SMOOTH muscle; ATHEROSCLEROSIS; PERIPHERAL vascular diseases; HEART blood-vessels; ARTERIOSCLEROSIS; LYMPHOID tissue; IMMUNOGLOBULINS
- Publication
Basic Research in Cardiology, 2000, Vol 95, Issue 2, p106
- ISSN
0300-8428
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s003950050171