Does smooth muscle 22 alpha maintain the differentiated phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells by inducing filamentous actin bundling?
The SM22 alpha-induced F-actin bundling enhances the contractility and mobility of VSMCs, and the activity of SM22 alpha is necessary for maintaining the differentiated phenotype of VSMCs.
Our results do not lead us to conclude that the schedule of anti-alcohol measures corresponds to the schedule of mortality changes. The continuous reduction in adult male mortality seen in Belarus and Russia cannot be fully explained by the anti-alcohol policies implemented in these countries, although these policies likely contributed to the large mortality reductions observed in Belarus and Russia in 2005-2006 and in Belarus in 2012. Thus, the effects of these policies appear to have been modest. We argue that the anti-alcohol measures implemented in Belarus and Russia simply coincided with fluctuations in alcohol-related mortality which originated in the past. If these trends had not been underway already, these huge mortality effects would not have occurred.