Drug-eluting stent specifically designed to target vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation attenuated restenosis through the YAP pathway.

Vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic modulation contributes to the development of restenosis. A sorafenib-eluting stent was specifically designed to target SMC phenotypic modulation to inhibit in-stent restenosis in the present study. SMC contractile protein from the freshly isolated rat aorta was expressed at a high level, but its expression was dramatically reduced after SMCs were cultured in 10% FBS for 1 wk. After sorafenib treatment, SMC contractile protein expression was markedly upregulated. We further observed that Yes-associated protein (YAP) expression was attenuated after sorafenib treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Overexpression of YAP by lentivirus reversed the expression of sorafenib-induced SMC contractile protein and increased the expression of cyclin D. Mechanistically, sorafenib regulated the serum response factor-myocardin (SRF-Myocd) complex through competitive binding of YAP to Myocd and increased SRF binding to CArG-containing regions of SMC-specific contractile genes within intact chromatin, thereby controlling the activity of smooth muscle-specific gene transcription. In a rabbit carotid model, the sorafenib-eluting stent (SFES) dramatically inhibited in-stent restenosis and upregulated SMC contractile protein expression. Overexpression of YAP blocked the antirestenosis effect of SFES and repressed contractile smooth muscle-specific genes in vivo, indicating that SFES attenuated in-stent restenosis through YAP-mediated SMC phenotypic modulation. We demonstrated that SFES attenuated in-stent restenosis through YAP-mediated SMC phenotypic modulation. Targeting SMC phenotypic modulation by drug-eluting stent represents an attractive therapeutic approach for the treatment of occlusive vascular diseases.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In the present study, we demonstrated that sorafenib regulates smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic modulation from a proliferative to a contractile state. Sorafenib induced a myocardin-serum response factor interaction and increased SMC contractile gene transcription through the Yes-associated protein pathway. Moreover, local delivery of sorafenib regulating SMC phenotypic modulation represents a promising strategy in the design of drug-eluting stents.