The Arterial Medial Cell, Smooth Muscle, or Multifunctional Mesenchyme?

UNDERSTANDING of the pathogenesisof atherosclerosis in man is still incom- plete.This is largely due to the dearth of data regarding the artery wall and its metab- olism.In this editorial emphasis will be placed on two basic assumptions regarding the artery wall and atherogenesis.1.The medial cells of the artery are of prime importance in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.2. They represent a single cell type in the arterial media, a cell which is probably responsible for the production of collagen, elastin, smooth muscle fibers, and base- ment membrane (acid mucopolysaccharides), and furthermore, they are the chief cell in which one can identify serum lipoproteins in human and animal atherosclerosis.Many histology textbooks still state that two separate cell types exist in the arterial media, smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts.I have yet to find an electron microscopist who has seen