RNA candidate screening in cell-to-cell contact-induced differentiation of human Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells (hPASMC, Lonza)

Smooth muscle cells retain a high plasticity in adulthood, allowing them to change between a differentiated, contractile phenotype and a dedifferentiated, proliferative and migrative phenotype in response to microenvironmental cues. This plasticity is key to maintain the structure and function of vessel walls. When disregulated, it can lead to the onset of vascular pathologies related to vascular remodeling and excessive extracellular matrix deposition. This screening aims to find novel candidates involved in the regulation of this process, in particular long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). hPASMC were harvested at 70% confluency (undifferentiated) and at the beginning of the cell-to-cell contact-induced differentiation (100% confluence). Total RNA was extracted using TRIzol and Illumina RNA deep seq was performed.