IMR Press / FBL / Volume 11 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/1803

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype by cyclic GMP and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase
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1 Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688
2 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2006, 11(1), 356–367; https://doi.org/10.2741/1803
Published: 1 January 2006
Abstract

This basic science review examines the role of cGMP and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) in the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotype. The first such studies suggested a role for nitric oxide (NO) and atrial natriuretic peptides (ANP), and the downstream second messenger cGMP, in the inhibition of VSMC proliferation. Subsequently, many laboratories confirmed the anti-proliferative effects of the cGMP pathway in cultured cells and the anti-atherosclerotic effects of the pathway in in vivo animal models. Other studies suggested that the cGMP target, PKG, mediated the anti-proliferative effects of cGMP although other laboratories have not consistently observed these effects. On the other hand, PKG mediates cGMP-dependent increases in smooth muscle-specific gene expression, and in vivo studies suggest that PKG expression itself reduces vascular lesions. The mechanisms by which PKG regulates gene expression are addressed, but it still unknown how the cGMP-PKG pathway is involved in smooth muscle-specific gene expression and phenotype.

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