FRNK Expression Promotes Smooth Muscle Cell Maturation During Vascular Development and After Vascular Injury

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation is a dynamic process that must be tightly regulated for proper vascular development and to control the onset of vascular disease. Our lab previously reported that a specific focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor termed FRNK (FAK Related Non-Kinase) is selectively expressed in large arterioles when SMC are transitioning from a synthetic to contractile phenotype and that FRNK inhibits FAK-dependent SMC proliferation and migration. Herein, we sought to determine whether FRNK expression modulates SMC phenotypes in vivo