{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:19:29Z","timestamp":1792790369655,"version":"4.5.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"group-title":"Molecular Biology","reference-count":56,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/012pb6c26","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Myocardin (MYOCD) is the principal trigger-switch for vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth arrest and the cyto-contractile program of differentiation. While much is known about MYOCD-dependent VSMC differentiation, limited information exists as to its transcriptional regulation. Here, we report moderate mRNA expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Myeloid Ecotropic viral Integration Site 1<\/jats:italic>\n                  (\n                  <jats:italic>MEIS1<\/jats:italic>\n                  ) in both human and mouse VSMCs.\n                  <jats:italic>MEIS1<\/jats:italic>\n                  mRNA is reduced in parallel with myocardin mRNA and protein under conditions of VSMC de-differentiation. Loss- and gain-of-\n                  <jats:italic>Meis1<\/jats:italic>\n                  expression studies in cultured human VSMCs and the mouse carotid artery support MEIS1 as an activator of myocardin and VSMC differentiation. CRISPR-mediated knockout of the endogenous\n                  <jats:italic>Meis1<\/jats:italic>\n                  gene\n                  <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                  and elicited lower levels of VSMC contractile markers and an increase in growth rate. Similarly, Femoral artery wire injury, in mice lacking\n                  <jats:italic>Meis1<\/jats:italic>\n                  showed and increased of neointima formation. Mechanistically, we identified a conserved MEIS1 response element in the proximal promoter of myocardin, that appears to contribute to the promoter activity, suggesting a potential regulatory interaction. These results suggest a previously unrecognized role for the homeodomain protein MEIS1 in the activation of myocardin and the quiescent, VSMC differentiated state.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.26.751066","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T15:00:30Z","timestamp":1790607630000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Myeloid Ecotropic Viral Integration Site 1 Promotes Vascular Smooth Muscle Differentiation through Activation of Myocardin"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Alshimaa","family":"Wally","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, 71103"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sailesti","family":"Joshi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, 71103"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jaser","family":"Doja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ajay","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Orazio J.","family":"Slivano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Susan H.","family":"Griffin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kunzhe","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ljubica","family":"Matic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabor","family":"Csanyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ulf","family":"Hedin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaochun","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8269-1420","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amr R.","family":"Salem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, 71103"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026100108301375000_2026.09.26.751066v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1495","DOI":"10.1161\/ATVBAHA.110.221135","article-title":"Signaling mechanisms that regulate smooth muscle cell differentiation. 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