Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are not terminally differentiated and, owing to their
remarkable plasticity, can change to a dedifferentiated state in response to vascular injury.
Our understanding of the contractility of VSMCs is mainly based on the data obtained from
normal adult animals. However, to obtain a better understanding of the abnormal contractility
seen in the vascular diseases such as hypertension and vasospasm superimposed on
atherosclerosis, it is important to also know the contractility of proliferating dedifferentiated …