Phenotypic diversity of smooth muscle cells isolated from human intracranial basilar artery

The present work examined heterogeneity of vascular smooth muscle cells cultured from human cerebral arteries that has not been previously reported. Primary smooth muscle cell cultures were isolated from human intracranial basilar arteries. Using a ring isolation method, multiple clones were generated from the cell cultures. These clones had two distinctly different morphologies: (1) fusiform; and (2) stellate. At confluence the fusiform-shaped clones grew in compact clusters with overlapping cells while the stellate-shaped clones were contact-inhibited growing in a monolayered pattern. The smooth muscle differentiation markers, alpha-smooth muscle-actin, calponin and smooth muscle-myosin heavy chains were expressed in all these clones. In response to serum stimulation, the stellate-shaped clones had a higher growth rate than the fusiform clones. This study reports that smooth muscle cells derived from human basilar arteries are heterogeneous.