Smooth muscle cell phenotype modulation due to compressive loading

The phenotype transition of the smooth muscle cells (SMC) under compressive loading is analyzed as seen from angioplasty and endovascular stenting. In cell culture, the cells are in their synthetic phenotype and exhibit a high absorbance. As the cells start to experience compressive loading, they become less proliferative. The cells are damaged once they experience a pressure of around 7 psi. One of the mechanisms for mechanotransduction in the cells are the integrins. They transfer mechanical load signals into cell and then through secondary messengers, DNA synthesis is initiated. Future work to verify phenotype change includes nuclear and cytoskeletal markers as well as integrin assays.