Evidence that insulin‐like growth factor‐1 requires protein kinase C‐ɛ, PI3‐kinase and mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathways to protect human vascular smooth muscle cells from apoptosis

Insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐1 has been implicated in the development of occlusive vascular lesions. Although its role in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth and migration are fairly well characterized, anti‐apoptotic signals of IGF‐1 in human VSMC remain largely unknown. In this study, we examined IGF‐1 signals that protect human and rat VSMC from staurosporine (STAU)‐ and c‐ myc ‐ induced apoptosis, respectively. Treatment with STAU...