Cytokine-induced differentiation of multipotent adult progenitor cells into functional smooth muscle cells
J. Clin. Invest. Jeffrey J. Ross, et al. 116:3139 doi:10.1172/JCI28184 [Go to this article.]

Figure 4
Expression of genes encoding structural proteins, transcription factors, and ECM transcripts in F-MAPCs. (A) Expression levels of α-SMA, SM22α, calponin, SM-MHC, and smoothelin, expressed as percentage of RAOSMC expression, significantly increased from day 0 to day 6 (P < 0.01; n = 6) and further increased to levels similar to those in RAOSMCs by passage 1 (P < 0.01; n = 6), with the exception of SM-MHC. (B) Low levels of the SMC transcription factors myocardin and Gata-6 were present at day 0 and increased by day 6 and passage 1. (C) Expression of the preferentially expressed VSMC transcript SmLim/CPP-2 was greater than that observed in RAOSMCs. Collagen type I and III mRNAs were expressed at levels similar to those in RAOSMCs by day 6 and further increased by passage 1 (n = 6). (D) Day 6 and passage 1 expression levels of telokin and γ-actin mRNA are similar to those in RAOSMCs and significantly lower than in visceral RUSMCs (P < 0.01; n = 6).