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C-kit is one of the most important tyrosine kinase receptors dynamically regulated in healthy and diseased blood vessels. However, whether c-Kit signaling is beneficial or detrimental to the vasculature remains elusive. This study assesses the impact of the loss of c-Kit in somatic and circulatory cells on atherosclerosis.

c-Kit expression was abundant in human aortas as determined by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence (IF) confocal microscopy. The vascular expression of this receptor varied among patients and tended to decrease in atherosclerotic arteries. Interestingly, in the murine aorta from a c-Kit reporter mouse, GFP was only found in a sub fraction of quiescent VSMC that reside just below the endothelium. c-Kit deficiency favored VSMC proliferation when aortic explants from c-Kit mutant (W/Wv) and wild type (WT) mice were simultaneously placed in a tissue …