INTEGRATION OF SIGNAL PATHWAYS FOR STRETCH-DEPENDENT GROWTH AND DIFFERENTIATION IN VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE.
Vascular smooth muscle phenotype is regulated by environmental factors, such as mechanical forces, which exert effects on signaling to differentiation and growth. We used the mouse portal vein in organ culture to investigate stretch-dependent activation of Akt, extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which have been suggested to be involved in the regulation o