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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Cellular Composition in Advanced Atherosclerotic Lesions of Smooth Muscle Cell Lineage-Tracing Mice
Published on: February 20, 2019
The mechanism of stem cell differentiation into smooth muscle cells
Qingzhong Xiao1, Gang Wang, Zhenling Luo
1Cardiovascular Division, King's College London BHF Centre, 125 Coldharbour Lane, London SE5 9NU, UK.
Abstract:
Stem cells represent one of the most promising areas in biological and medical research. All stem cells are defined as having two basic properties: unlimited self-renewal and the broad potential to differentiate in vitro, via "progenitor cells", into somatic cells of many tissue types, in which smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation is a complicated and not well defined process. It is known that serum response factors (SRF) and co-activator myocardin are essential transcription factors in SMC differentiation. Upstream activators or regulators for the transcription factors have been recently identified, such as reactive oxygen species, histone deacetylases, microRNAs and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and integrins. In this review we, therefore, aim to briefly summarise recent progress in the mechanism of stem cell differentiation into SMCs to highlight the potential targets for promoting/inhibiting SMC differentiation useful for vessel-tissue engineering and treatment of vascular disease.
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