Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) stimulates vascular smooth muscle cell growth and migration in vitro

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) was first identified as a 38-kDa cys teine-rich protein which can be specifically induced by TGF-beta and was re cently found to be expressed abundantly in atherosclerotic lesions, but onl y marginally in normal vascular tissues, It was hypothesized that CTGF is o ne of the factors involved in the development of atherosclerotic lesions. I n this study, we investigated the functions of CTGF protein in regulating t he growth and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and found th at by overexpressing CTGF in VSMC, proliferation and migration rates mere s ignificantly increased. The accelerated growth and migration can be reverse d by an anti-CTGF antibody In addition, overexpression of CTGF also promote s VSMC to express more extracellular matrix protein collagen I and fibronec tin, Our results indicate that CTGF is a growth factor for VSMC and it may play a similar role in promoting VSMC proliferation, migration, and formati on of extracellular matrix, in vivo.