A Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Screen for Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation and Maturation Identifies Inhibitors of Intimal Hyperplasia

Contractile to synthetic phenotypic switching of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) contributes to stenosis in vascular disease and vascular transplants. To generate more contractile SMCs, we performed a high-throughput differentiation screen using a MYH11-NLuc-tdTomato human embryonic stem cell reporter cell line. We identified RepSox as a factor that promotes differentiation of MYH11-positive cells by promoting NOTCH signaling. RepSox induces SMCs to...