Inherent differences in morphology, proliferation, and migration in saphenous vein smooth muscle cells cultured from nondiabetic and Type 2 diabetic patients

Individuals with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are at increased risk of saphenous vein (SV) graft stenosis following coronary artery bypass. Graft stenosis is caused by intimal hyperplasia, a pathology characterized by smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and migration. We hypothesized that SV-SMC from T2DM patients were intrinsically more proliferative and migratory than those from nondiabetic individuals. SV-SMC were cultured from nondiabetic and T2DM patients. Cell morphology (light microscopy, immunocytochemistry), S100A4 expression (real-time RT-PCR, immunoblotting), proliferation (cell counting), migration (Boyden chamber assay), and cell signaling (immunoblotting with phosphorylation state-specific antibodies) were studied. SV-SMC from T2DM patients were morphologically distinct from nondiabetic patients and exhibited a predominantly rhomboid phenotype, accompanied by disrupted F-actin cytoskeleton, disorganized alpha-smooth muscle actin network, and increased focal adhesion formation. However, no differences were observed in expression of the calcium-binding protein S100A4, a marker of rhomboid SMC phenotype, between the two cell populations. T2DM cells were less proliferative in response to fetal calf serum than nondiabetic cells, but both populations had similar proliferative responses to insulin plus PDGF. Under high glucose concentration conditions in the presence of insulin, migration of diabetic SV-SMC was greater than nondiabetic cells. Glucose concentration did not affect SV-SMC proliferation. No differences in insulin or PDGF-induced phosphorylation of ERK-1/2 or components of the Akt pathway (Akt-Ser473, Akt-Thr308, and GSK-3beta) were apparent between the two populations. In conclusion, SV-SMC from T2DM patients differ from nondiabetic SV-SMC in that they exhibit a rhomboid phenotype and are more migratory, but less proliferative, in response to serum.