Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) at capacitance arteries of hypertensive individuals
and animals undergo dramatic polyploidization that contributes toward their hypertrophic
phenotype. We report here the identification of a defective mitotic spindle cell cycle
checkpoint in VSMC isolated from capacitance arteries of pre-hypertensive rats. These cells
demonstrated a high predisposition to polyploidization in culture and failed to maintain
cyclin B protein levels in response to colcemid, a mitotic inhibitor. Furthermore, this altered …