High frequency of cytokeratin-producing smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerotic plaques

Using immunofluorescence microscopy we show that cells expressing cytokeratins 8 and 18 are frequently enriched in human vascular wall tissue pathologically altered by the appearance of intimal thickenings and atherosclerotic plaques. These cytokeratins occur in cells which also synthesize IFs containing vimentin and/or desmin, and a considerable proportion of the cytokeratin-positive cells has been identified as smooth muscle cells by colocalization of desmin and/or smooth muscle type alpha-actin. The presence of extremely low concentrations of these cytokeratins in such vascular tissues has been confirmed by gel electrophoresis with immunoblotting as well as by Northern blot hybridization using specific cytokeratin cRNA probes. The results are discussed in relation to the recent demonstration that low-level synthesis of cytokeratins 8 and 18 occurs in other muscular tissues and to the specific proliferative activity of these cells.