Vol.26 No.4£¨2004 August£©£º352-356 Regulation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell by Homeobox Gene Lei Nie, Mei Han*, Jin-Kun Wen £¨Hebei Laboratory of Medical Biotechnology, Institute of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China£© Abstract: Homeobox genes are critical in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. Vascular smooth muscle cells occur phenotypic modulation during the pathological processes such as atherosclerosis and arterial restenosis after balloon angioplasty. Recently, homeobox genes have been detected in vascular smooth muscle cells, and may play an important role in regulating these processes. This paper will review the homeobox genes involve in the phenotypic modulation, proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. Key words: homeobox gene; vascular smooth muscle cell; phenotypic modulation *Corresponding author. Tel: 86-311-6265563, E-mail: wjk@hebmu.edu.cn |