SFB / Transregio 23
"Vascular Differentiation and Remodeling"

Mannheim - Heidelberg - Frankfurt

Dr. Thomas Korff University of Heidelberg Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology Im Neuenheimer Feld 326 D-69120 Heidelberg Phone: 0049 (0)6221 54 4131 Lab Homepage
	korff(at)physiologie.uni-heidelberg.de
C5: The role of smooth muscle cells during stretch-induced vascular remodelling
The remodelling of blood vessels during atherosclerosis, arteriogenesis, hypertension, and varicosis is critically dependent on phenotype changes in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC). Based on the fact that all of the aforementioned remodelling processes are basically triggered by an increase in circumferential wall strain, the aim of this study is i) to decipher the mechanism by which this biomechanical force enables the switch from a contractile to a synthetic/pro-inflammatory SMC phenotype and ii) to analyze the impact of stretch-stimulated SMC on the activity of leukocytes and the extracellular matrix during vascular remodelling.

Summary of stretch-mediated changes in the SMC phenotype which contribute to the development
of arteriosclerosis, arteriogenesis, varicosis and hypertension-induced remodelling.