Abstract:Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events. Among them, abnormal VSM contractions such as vasospasm are caused by Ca 2þ -sensitization of VSM contraction. However, the relationship between cholesterol (CHOL) and the VSM Ca 2þ -sensitization has not been clarified yet. Our recent studies showed that a sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC)/Src family tyrosine kinase (Src-TK) / Rho-kinase (ROK) pathway mediates the Ca 2þ -sensitization, and SPC indeed induces severe vasospasm in vivo. We fo… Show more
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