Hedgehog and Resident Vascular Stem Cell Fate

Figure 6

Hedgehog and Notch control of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transition to vSMC. Rat MSCs were treated with recombinant rSHh or the Notch ligand, Jagged-1, for 5 days in 0.5% FCS in the absence or presence of Hh (cyclopamine and HPI-4) and Notch inhibitors (γ-secretase inhibitors, DAPT and L-685,458). Vascular SMC differentiation was assessed by determining smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) and calponin-1 (CNN1) positive cells.

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