Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (DA)

These cells were detected in the dorsal and dorsolateral walls of the aorta (E9.5). At this stage, regions in the ventral and ventrolateral walls of the aorta are occupied by lateral plate-derived smooth muscle cells (SMCs). At E10.5, somite-derived cells migrate and circle the ventrolateral wall of the aorta. By E11.5, the wall of the aorta is covered by these cells and has minimal contribution of lateral plate cells. Apparently, the somites are the sole contributors to SMCs in the adult aorta in mice (based on Meox1 analysis).In addition to the aorta, SMC of the body wall and limbs originate from the somite. Experiments done in chick, claim that the dermomyotome has no contribution to the dorsal aorta SMCs.