Transcriptional programs regulating vascular smooth muscle cell development and differentiation

Publisher Summary This chapter critically analyzes the current understanding of the transcriptional programs that control smooth muscle cells (SMCs) development and differentiation. One approach to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate SMC differentiation is to identify the transcriptional regulatory elements and transcription factors that regulate SMC-specific gene expression. This approach has fundamentally increased the understanding of skeletal and cardiac myocyte-specific gene expression and differentiation. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) arise from two embryological origins, lateral mesoderm and neural crest. However, it remains uncertain whether SMCs represent a single cell lineage that adapts its phenotype to local environmental cues, or whether SMCs are genetically preprogrammed to distinct tissue-restricted sublineages. Subtle differences in phenotype are observed between mesenchymal and neural crest–derived VSMCs in the proximal aorta. Current paradigms suggest that SMCs reversibly modulate their phenotype from a contractile cell to a synthetic cell. This model is based on the behavior of vascular smooth muscle cells in culture.