title: Close relation of arterial ICC-like cells to the contractile phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cell.
abstract: This work aimed to establish the lineage of cells similar to the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), the arterial ICC-like (AIL) cells, which have recently been described in resistance arteries, and to study their location in the artery wall. Segments of guinea-pig mesenteric arteries and single AIL cells freshly isolated from them were used. Confocal imaging of immunostained cells or segments and electron microscopy of artery segments were used to test for the presence and cellular localization of selected markers, and to localize AIL cells in intact artery segments. AIL cells were negative for PGP9.5, a neural marker, and for von Willebrand factor (vWF), an endothelial cell marker. They were positive for smooth muscle alpha-actin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC), but expressed only a small amount of smoothelin, a marker of contractile smooth muscle cells (SMC), and of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), a critical enzyme in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. Cell isolation in the presence of latrunculin B, an actin polymerization inhibitor, did not cause the disappearance of AIL cells from cell suspension. The fluorescence of basal lamina protein collagen IV was comparable between the AIL cells and the vascular SMCs and the fluorescence of laminin was higher in AIL cells compared to vascular SMCs. Moreover, cells with thin processes were found in the tunica media of small resistance arteries using transmission electron microscopy. The results suggest that AIL cells are immature or phenotypically modulated vascular SMCs constitutively present in resistance arteries.
authors.affiliation: Ion Channels and Cell Signalling Centre, Division of Basic Medical Sciences, St. George's, University of London, United Kingdom. v.pucovsky@qub.ac.uk
authors.forename: Vladimír
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pucovský
authors.forename: Maksym I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Harhun
authors.forename: Oleksandr V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Povstyan
authors.forename: Dmitri V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Gordienko
authors.forename: Ray F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Bolton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002469:Cell Separation; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008638:Mesenteric Arteries / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009219:Myosin-Light-Chain Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D014655:Vascular Resistance; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D009219:Myosin-Light-Chain Kinase; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase