Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Human Saphenous Vein Endothelial Cell Isolation and Exposure to Controlled Levels of Shear Stress and Stretch
Published on: April 21, 2023
Kruppel-like factor 15 regulates smooth muscle response to vascular injury--brief report
Yuan Lu1, Saptarsi Haldar, Kevin Croce
1Case Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
Abstract:
To determine the role of Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 15, a zinc finger transcriptional factor that is expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vascular biology. VSMCs respond to mechanical injury via a tightly orchestrated series of gene regulatory events. KLF15 is broadly expressed in both arterial and venous vascular beds in a VSMC restricted fashion. KLF15 expression is markedly reduced by both pharmacological and mechanical stimuli. To examine the specific role of KLF15 in the vascular response to injury, we performed femoral artery wire injury in KLF15(-/-) and wild-type mice. KLF15(-/-) mice develop exaggerated neointimal growth, with evidence of increased SMC proliferation and migration within the neointima. In concordance, gain and loss of function studies in isolated VSMCs demonstrate that KLF15 can directly inhibit SMC proliferation and migration. To our knowledge, these data are the first to identify KLF15 as a novel inhibitor of VSMC proliferation and migration and to implicate this factor as a critical regulator of the vascular response to injury.
More Related Videos
06:14Murine Aortic Crush Injury: An Efficient In Vivo Model of Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Endothelial Function
Published on: June 11, 2017
08:28Isolation of Primary Patient-specific Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells and Semiquantitative Real-time Contraction Measurements In Vitro
Published on: February 15, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Vascular Spasm
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Autoregulation of Blood Flow
Chemical Signaling in Autoregulation
Chemical signaling operates at the precapillary sphincter level, inciting either contraction or relaxation.