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Inhibition of cellular ras prevents smooth muscle cell proliferation after vascular injury in vivo

Nature Medicine volume 1, pages 541–545 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

Proliferation of smooth muscle cells of the arterial wall in response to local injury is an important aetiologic factor of vascular proliferative disorders such as atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. Ras proteins are key transducers of mitogenic signals from membrane to nucleus in many cell types. We investigated the role of ras proteins in the vascular response to arterial injury by inactivating cellular ras of rats in which the common carotid artery was subjected to balloon injury. DNA vectors expressing ras transdominant negative mutants, which interfere with ras function, reduced neointimal formation after injury. Our results indicate a key role for ras in smooth muscle cell proliferation and show that the local delivery of transdominant negative mutants of ras in vivo might prevent some of the acute vascular injury caused by balloon injury.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cattedra di Cardiologia, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del C.N.R., Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Ciro Indolfi, Antonio Rapacciuolo, Emilio Di Lorenzo, Giovanni Esposito, Eugenio Stabile & Massimo Chiariello

  2. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale Clinica, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia di Catanzaro, Via T. Campanella, 88100, Catanzaro, Italy

    Enrico V. Avvedimento & Evelina Mele

  3. Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Molecolare e Cellulare, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del C.N.R., Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Feliciello & Paola Giuliano

  4. Jefferson Cancer Institute, Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 South 50th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107-5541, USA

    GianLuigi Condorelli

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  1. Ciro Indolfi
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Indolfi, C., Avvedimento, E., Rapacciuolo, A. et al. Inhibition of cellular ras prevents smooth muscle cell proliferation after vascular injury in vivo. Nat Med 1, 541–545 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0695-541

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