Review Volume 11, Issue 23 pp 11756—11769

Figure 1. Mechanisms of ADSCs differentiation into SMC and EC. TGF-β pathway plays a central role in the differentiation of ADSCs into SMC. ADSCs secrete TGF-β through MEK/ERK-dependent mechanism when treated with SPC. Meanwhile, SPC activates the Rho/ROCK system and subsequently promotes the binding of MRTF and SRF. MRTF, SRF, Smad2/3 and Myocardin jointly initiate the expression of smooth muscle related genes. Med23 represses SMC differentiation via promoting ELK1-SRF to combine with the promoter. PI3K pathway involves in EC differentiation of ADSCs. EC: endothelial cell, SMC: smooth muscle cell, ROCK: Rho-associated protein kinase, SRF: serum response factor, MRTF: myocardin related transcription factor, ELK1: ETS Like-1 protein.