title: Notch Signaling in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.
abstract: The Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved pathway involved in cell fate determination in embryonic development and also functions in the regulation of physiological processes in several systems. It plays an especially important role in vascular development and physiology by influencing angiogenesis, vessel patterning, arterial/venous specification, and vascular smooth muscle biology. Aberrant or dysregulated Notch signaling is the cause of or a contributing factor to many vascular disorders, including inherited vascular diseases, such as cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, associated with degeneration of the smooth muscle layer in cerebral arteries. Like most signaling pathways, the Notch signaling axis is influenced by complex interactions with mediators of other signaling pathways. This complexity is also compounded by different members of the Notch family having both overlapping and unique functions. Thus, it is vital to fully understand the roles and interactions of each Notch family member in order to effectively and specifically target their exact contributions to vascular disease. In this chapter, we will review the Notch signaling pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells as it relates to vascular development and human disease.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Cardiovascular Research and The Heart Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Baeten
authors.affiliation: The Center for Cardiovascular Research and The Heart Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States. Electronic address: brenda.lilly@nationwidechildrens.org.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lilly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051880:Receptors, Notch
keywords: Notch signaling; Smooth muscle; Smooth muscle differentiation; Smooth muscle phenotype; Vascular development; Vascular disease