Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Differ from Other Smooth Muscle Cells: Predominance of Vimentin Filaments and a Specific α -Type Actin

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 298 - 302
• Main Authors: Gabbiani, Giulio, Schmid, Erika, Winter, Stefanie, Chaponnier, Christine, De Chastonay, Catherine, Vandekerckhove, Joel, Weber, Klaus, Franke, Werner W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.01.1981; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Actins; Actins - analysis; Aged; Animals; Antibodies; Aorta; Aorta - analysis; Cattle; Cytoskeleton - analysis; Desmin; Electrophoresis; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Gels; Humans; Male; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Middle Aged; Muscle Proteins - analysis; Muscle tissues; Muscle, Smooth - cytology; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - cytology; Rabbits; Rats; Smooth muscle; Smooth muscle myocytes; Species Specificity; Swine; Uterus; Vimentin

Smooth muscle cells of the digestive, respiratory, and urogenital tracts contain desmin as their major, if not exclusive, intermediate-sized filament constituent and also show a predominance of γ -type smooth muscle actin. We have now examined smooth muscle tissue of different blood vessels (e.g., a...