Peripheral and central vascular smooth muscle cells from rat lung exhibit different cytoskeletal protein profiles but similar growth factor requirements.

In pulmonary vascular remodelling, the lining smooth muscle cells undergo various forms of growth involving cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Differences in the growth pattern between central and peripheral regions suggested that cells from both should be obtained when investigating the cellular basis for the remodelling. Accordingly, we have obtained two smooth muscle cell types in culture: a cell from the central pulmonary artery (CC) and a cell morphologically similar to a pericyte (PC), from the periphery of the lung. Both cell types gave positive immunostaining for alpha-smooth muscle isoactin. In vivo, the alpha-isoactin was immunolocalized in the extracapillary vasculature. Quantitative two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of cell extracts showed that PC express more vimentin and gelsolin than CC. Despite the differences between PC and CC in the expression of cytoskeletal proteins, their response to growth factors was similar. Both cell types increased DNA synthesis when stimulated by exogenous PDGF-AB. This occurred in the absence of exogenous progression factors, but depended on a post-competence, suramin-sensitive mechanism that probably represents an autocrine progression factor. The cells were also stimulated by IGF-1 alone, in the absence of exogenous competence factors. At an IGF-1 concentration of 1 ng/ml, this response appeared specific for the IGF-1 receptor and was sensitive to pretreatment with pertussis toxin, thus implicating a role for a G protein.