title: Myocardin and smooth muscle differentiation.
abstract: Myocardin (MYOCD), a co-transcriptional activator of serum response factor (SRF), stimulates the expression of smooth muscle (SM) genes and inhibits the cell cycle. In addition to its roles in the development, MYOCD may be critically involved in the pathogenesis of proliferative vascular diseases. This review mainly focuses on how MYOCD activity is regulated and how it inhibits cell proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Smooth Muscle Research Group, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: xlzheng@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Xi-Long
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099251:Myocardin
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D000099251:Myocardin
keywords: Myocardin; Smooth muscle cell proliferation; Smooth muscle differentiation