An overview of the vascular response to injury: a tribute to the late Russell Ross

The innermost layer of a normal blood vessel wall, the tunica intima, consi sts of a simple monolayer of endothelial cells seated on a basement membran e. Expansion of the intima is a common characteristic of atherosclerosis, r estenosis after angioplasty, late closure of saphenous vein grafts and tran splant vascular disease. The intima becomes a complex connective tissue con taining vascular smooth muscle cells that have invaded from the underlying tunica media and inflammatory cells that have invaded from the circulation. This brief review will concentrate on the molecular events underlying the generation of this neointima 'in response to injury' and its consequences f or disease. It will also consider the implications for the consequences and early detection of vascular drug toxicity. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.