Intracellular Ca(2+) remodeling during the phenotypic journey of human coronary smooth muscle cells

Vascular smooth muscle cells undergo phenotypic switches after damage which may contribute to proliferative disorders of the vessel wall. This process has been related to remodeling of Ca(2+) channels. We have tested the ability of cultured human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (hCASMCs) to return from a proliferative to a quiescent behavior and the contribution of intracellular Ca(2+) remodeling to the process. We found that cultured, early passage hCASMCs showed a high proliferation rate, sustained increases in cytosolic [Ca(2+)] in response to angiotensin II, residual voltage-operated Ca(2+) entry, increased Stim1 and enhanced store-operated currents. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibited store-operated Ca(2+) entry and abolished cell proliferation in a mitochondria-dependent manner. After a few passages, hCASMCs turned to a quiescent phenotype characterized by lack of proliferation, oscillatory Ca(2+) response to angiotensin II, increased Ca(2+) store content, enhanced voltage-operated Ca(2+) entry and Cav1.2 expression, and decreases in Stim1, store-operated current and store-operated Ca(2+) entry. We conclude that proliferating hCASMCs return to quiescence and this switch is associated to a remodeling of Ca(2+) channels and their control by subcellular organelles, thus providing a window of opportunity for targeting phenotype-specific Ca(2+) channels involved in proliferation.