Bone Abstracts

Vascular calcification is a ubiquitous pathology in the aged and diseased vasculature. Recently we have focused on the earliest events in the calcification process and have shown that calcification is initiated in small membrane-bound bodies, or matrix vesicles, derived from both apoptotic and stressed VSMCs. Under normal conditions, these vesicles are loaded with potent inhibitors of mineralization, including matrix Gla protein (MGP) and fetuin-A, which act to block or contro...