Vascular pathology and the role of hyaluronan

The development of vascular pathology is often coupled to dramatic alterations of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which provides critical support for vascular tissue as a scaffold for maintaining the organization of vascular cells into blood vessels, for blood vessel stabilization, morphogenesis, and for cell proliferation, migration, and survival. Hyaluronan (HA) is an important component of the ECM that has generated increasing interest because of its multitude of functions. HA is a linear polymer belonging to the family of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which comprises the major fraction of carbohydrates in ECM. Evidence supports the hypothesis that HA is an important contributor to human aortic smooth muscle cell (AoSMC) migration which represents a crucial point in the onset of pathology. By reducing HA synthesis and therefore the AoSMC motility, 4-Metyllumbelliferone (4-MU) could represent a new molecule with additional beneficial pharmacological effects in vivo.