The role of smooth muscle derived tissue factor in mediating thrombosis and arterial injury.

Tissue factor (TF) is a glycoprotein that initiates coagulation, regulates hemostasis and plays a critical role in arterial thrombosis. Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) are the major cellular component of the arterial wall. Under normal conditions, SMC express minimal levels of TF; however TF is rapidly induced in SMC by growth factors and cytokines and is expressed in abundance in arterial SMC in response to injury and during atherogenesis. Recent studies have suggested that SMC-derived TF plays an important role in promoting arterial thrombosis and in mediating intimal hyperplasia in response to arterial injury. This latter role may be related to non-procoagulant properties of TF.