By focusing on RNA-binding proteins whose genes have super enhancers in smooth muscle cells, the protein RBPMS was identified as an alternative splicing master regulator.

microRNA-1 plays an essential role in the development and functioning of the heart by ensuring that genes for striated, rather than smooth, muscle are expressed there.

Direct reprogramming of smooth muscle cells from HGPS patients revealed that BMP4 is a key contributor of vascular degeneration and might represent a new therapeutic target.

A computer model predicts different mechanisms of blood pressure regulation and effective hypertensive therapy for males and females, thereby serving as a foundational tool for improved treatment precision.

Pericytes surrounding capillaries in the retina contain α-smooth muscle actin, demonstrating that pericytes have the necessary molecular machinery to change capillary diameter during neurovascular coupling.

Alk5/TGF-β signaling is required in the endothelium to orchestrate zebrafish cardiac outflow tract morphogenesis, regulating smooth muscle cell and extracellular matrix organization.

Progenitor cells for the muscle layer around the coronary arteries have been identified revealing a key step in how the embryo forms these important blood vessels.

Atomic force microscopy based single-molecule force spectroscopy of smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase strongly indicates the existence of a mechanically triggerable activation pathway analogous to its well-established biochemical regulation pathway via calcium-loaded calmodulin.

An aorta smooth muscle-on-a-chip model indicated that NOTCH1 insufficiency in HAoSMCs induced phenotypic switching from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype accompanied by an impairment of mitochondrial fusion, implying its potential role as a therapeutic target for BAV-TAA.

Molecular profiling of annelid myocytes reveals that the last common protostome-deuterostome ancestor already possessed a dual musculature, with visceral smooth muscles ensuring digestion and somatic striated muscles ensuring locomotion.