Abnormal neointimal smooth muscle cell proliferation appears to be a common cause of vascular disease such as atherosclerosis or restenosis after coronary angioplasty. However, the cellular and molecular basis of smooth muscle (SM) differentiation and proliferation is rather poorly understood. Thus, the need to analyse the transcriptional control mechanisms of SM-cell differentiation and diversity. Unfortunately this analysis has not been possible to date due to the lack of SM-cell specific genes, whose promoter(s) could be used to identify regulatory factors responsible for SM-cell differentiation. In this study we propose to characterize the mouse smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMHC) promoter to identify the 5' elements responsible for tissue specific expression and utilize the SMHC promoter to over-express a dominant negative FGF receptor-1 contract in SM-cells affecting the proliferation.
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