When yes-associated protein, or YAP, is deleted from vascular smooth muscle cells during development, the protein makes thin-walled blood vessels that over-dilate in response to the usual pressure of blood flow, said Dr. Jiliang Zhou, vascular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University."The thickness of the arterial wall decreases from three or four layers of smooth muscle cells to one or two layers," said Zhou, corresponding author of the study featured on the cover of the American Heart Association journal, Circulation Research.

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