Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered a major mechanism to explain normal and abnormal smooth muscle growth, a finding that could help in the development of novel therapeutics for disorders like hypertension and asthma. Their work appears in today’s issue of Nature. Smooth muscle cells are essential for the formation and function of the cardiovascular system, as well as many internal organs such as the stomach, intestine, bladder and uterus. Abnormalities in their growth can cause a wide range of human disorders, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, asthma and leiomyosarcoma (a fatal smooth-muscle cancer). The molecular mechanisms that control smooth muscle cell growth and differentiation, however, have been poorly understood.
