An In Vitro Murine Model of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Mineralization

Vascular calcification (VC) is seen ubiquitously in aging blood vessels and prematurely in disease states like renal failure. It is thought to be driven by a number of systemic and local factors that lead to extra-osseous deposition of mineral in the vascular wall and valves as a common endpoint. The response of resident vascular smooth muscle cell to these dystrophic signals appears to be important in this process. Whilst in vivo models allow the observation of global changes in a pro-calcific environment, identifying the specific cells and mechanisms involved has been largely garnered from in vitro experiments, which provide added benefits in terms of reproducibility, cost, and convenience. Here we describe a 7-21 day cell culture model of calcification developed using immortalized murine vascular smooth muscle cells (MOVAS-1). This model provides a method by which vascular smooth muscle cell involvement and manipulation within a mineralizing domain can be studied.