Toward functional genomics of flow-induced outward remodeling of resistance arteries

In resistance-sized arteries, a chronic increase in blood flow leads to increases in arterial structural luminal diameter and arterial wall mass. In this review, we summarize recent evidence that outward remodeling of resistance arteries 1) can help maintain and restore tissue perfusion, 2) is not intimately related to flow-induced vasodilatation, 3) involves transient dedifferentiation and turnover of arterial smooth muscle cells, and 4) is preceded by increased expression of matricellular proteins, which have been shown to promote disassembly of focal adhesion sites. Studies of experimental and physiological resistance artery remodeling involving differential gene expression analyses and the use of knockout and transgenic mouse models can help unravel the mechanisms of outward remodeling.