Vascular smooth muscle cell migration, atherosclerosis, and calcium channel blockers

Calcium channel blockers have been studied widely for their potential ability to retard or even reverse atherosclerosis. Several potential cellular mechanisms have been proposed, including interactions with vascular smooth muscle cells: migration, inhibition of proliferation, or both. This paper reviews some of the signaling events involved in smooth muscle cell migration, including changes in intracellular calcium, and the inhibition of cell migration by calcium channel blockers. Finally, there is a discussion of preliminary experiments on human vascular smooth muscle cell migration using amlodipine.