Emory researchers reprogram smooth muscle cells to promote vascular regeneration

Cell therapy has emerged as a promising way to create new blood vessels, but previous research had only been able to regrow micro-level vessels such as capillaries. Now, a research team led by the School of Medicine’s Young-sup Yoon recently found a way to reprogram human skin cells into smooth muscle cells in the walls of tiny blood vessels, a discovery that may lead to new therapies for treating ischemic cardiovascular disease, in which the heart is damaged by reductions in the normal amount of blood flow. In their research, published in Circulation, Yoon, a professor of medicine, and colleagues grafted the reprogrammed smooth muscle cells into the hindlimbs of ischemic mice. These were incorporated into the vascular wall as special cells called pericytes and as additional vascular smooth muscle cells that line the walls of blood vessels and help regulate blood flow and maintain vessel structure. The new cells contributed to the growth of larger and more stable microvessels with improved blood flow through the tissues and enhanced tissue repair. In addition to its use in treating cardiovascular disease, the authors say their findings could also be useful in some kinds of regenerative medicine, including disease modeling, drug testing and tissue engineered blood vessels. Citation: Jung et al (2025). Novel Directly Reprogrammed Smooth Muscle Cells Promote Vascular Regeneration as Microvascular Mural Cells.