Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1971 Jul 1;50(1):172–186. doi: 10.1083/jcb.50.1.172

THE SMOOTH MUSCLE CELL

II. Growth of Smooth Muscle in Culture and Formation of Elastic Fibers

Russell Ross 1
PMCID: PMC2108435  PMID: 4327464

Abstract

Smooth muscle derived from the inner media and intima of immature guinea pig aorta were grown for up to 8 wk in cell culture. The cells maintained the morphology of smooth muscle at all phases of their growth in culture. After growing to confluency, they grew in multiple overlapping layers. By 4 wk in culture, microfibrils (110 A) appeared within the spaces between the layers of cells. Basement membrane-like material also appeared adjacent to the cells. Analysis of the microfibrils showed that they have an amino acid composition similar to that of the microfibrillar protein of the intact elastic fiber. These investigations coupled with the radioautographic observations of the ability of aortic smooth muscle to synthesize and secrete extracellular proteins demonstrate that this cell is a connective tissue synthetic cell.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.4 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bo W. J., Odor D. L., Rothrock M. The fine structure of uterine smooth muscle of the rat uterus at various time intervals following a single injection of estrogen. Am J Anat. 1968 Sep;123(2):369–384. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001230209. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Greenlee T. K., Jr, Ross R., Hartman J. L. The fine structure of elastic fibers. J Cell Biol. 1966 Jul;30(1):59–71. doi: 10.1083/jcb.30.1.59. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Greenlee T. K., Jr, Ross R. The development of the rat flexor digital tendon, a fine structure study. J Ultrastruct Res. 1967 May;18(3):354–376. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(67)80124-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Jarmolych J., Daoud A. S., Landau J., Fritz K. E., McElvene E. Aortic media explants. Cell proliferation and production of mucopolysaccharides, collagen, and elastic tissue. Exp Mol Pathol. 1968 Oct;9(2):171–188. doi: 10.1016/0014-4800(68)90033-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KASAI T., POLLAK O. J. SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS IN AORTIC CULTURES OF UNTREATED AND CHOLESTEROL-FED RABBITS. Z Zellforsch Mikrosk Anat. 1964 May 29;62:743–752. doi: 10.1007/BF00342181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. KOKUBU T., POLLAK O. J. In vitro cultures of aortic cells of untreated and of cholesterol-fed rabbits. J Atheroscler Res. 1961 May-Jun;1:229–239. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(61)80034-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Karnovsky M. J. The ultrastructural basis of capillary permeability studied with peroxidase as a tracer. J Cell Biol. 1967 Oct;35(1):213–236. doi: 10.1083/jcb.35.1.213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MYASNIKOV A. L., BLOCK Y. E. INFLUENCE OF SOME FACTORS ON LIPOIDOSIS AND CELL PROLIFERATION IN AORTA TISSUE CULTURES OF ADULT RABBITS. J Atheroscler Res. 1965 Jan-Feb;5(1):33–42. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(65)80006-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Morton H. J. A survey of commercially available tissue culture media. In Vitro. 1970 Sep-Oct;6(2):89–108. doi: 10.1007/BF02616112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Myasnikov A. L., Block Y. E., Pavlov V. M. Influence of lipemic serums of patients with atherosclerosis on tissue cultures of adult human aortas. J Atheroscler Res. 1966 May-Jun;6(3):224–231. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(66)80003-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. POLLAK O. J., KASAI T. APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOR OF AORTIC CELLS IN VITRO. Am J Med Sci. 1964 Jul;248:71–78. doi: 10.1097/00000441-196407000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Parker F., Odland G. F. A light microscopic, histochemical and electron microscopic study of experimental atherosclerosis in rabbit coronary artery and a comparison with rabbit aorta atherosclerosis. Am J Pathol. 1966 Mar;48(3):451–481. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Revel J. P., Karnovsky M. J. Hexagonal array of subunits in intercellular junctions of the mouse heart and liver. J Cell Biol. 1967 Jun;33(3):C7–C12. doi: 10.1083/jcb.33.3.c7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ross R., Bornstein P. The elastic fiber. I. The separation and partial characterization of its macromolecular components. J Cell Biol. 1969 Feb;40(2):366–381. doi: 10.1083/jcb.40.2.366. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ross R., Klebanoff S. J. Fine structural changes in uterine smooth muscle and fibroblasts in response to estrogen. J Cell Biol. 1967 Jan;32(1):155–167. doi: 10.1083/jcb.32.1.155. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Ross R., Klebanoff S. J. The smooth muscle cell. I. In vivo synthesis of connective tissue proteins. J Cell Biol. 1971 Jul;50(1):159–171. doi: 10.1083/jcb.50.1.159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Scott R. F., Jones R., Daoud A. S., Zumbo O., Coulston F., Thomas W. A. Experimental atherosclerosis in rhesus monkeys. II. Cellular elements of proliferative lesions and possible role of cytoplasmic degeneration in pathogenesis as studied by electron microscopy. Exp Mol Pathol. 1967 Aug;7(1):34–57. doi: 10.1016/0014-4800(67)90037-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tokuoka S. Response of the uterine smooth muscle cell to estrogen stimulation: an electron microscopic and autoradiographic study. Acta Pathol Jpn. 1968 Nov;18(4):417–430. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1827.1968.tb00072.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES