Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1997;17:1210-1215
(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1997;17:1210-1215.)
© 1997 American Heart Association, Inc.
Myosin Gene Expression and Cell Phenotypes in Vascular Smooth Muscle During Development, in Experimental Models, and in Vascular Disease
Saverio Sartore;
Angela Chiavegato;
Rafaella Franch;
Elisabetta Faggin;
;
Paolo Pauletto
From the Departments of Biomedical Sciences (S.S., A.C., R.F.) and of
Clinical and Experimental Medicine (E.F., P.P.), University of Padua, and the
CNR Unit for Muscle Biology and Physiopathology (S.S.), Padua, Italy.
Correspondence to Saverio Sartore, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, Viale Colombo 3, I-35121 Padua, Italy. E-mail sartore{at}civ.bio.unipd.it
 |
Abstract
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|---|
Abstract In the aortic wall of mammalian species, the
maturation
phase of smooth muscle cell (SMC) lineage is characterized
by
two temporally correlated but opposite regulatory processes
of gene
expression: upregulation of SM type SM2 myosin isoform
and
downregulation of brain (myosin heavy chain B)- and platelet
(myosin
heavy chain A
pla)-type nonmuscle myosins. Using the
myosin isoform
approach to study vascular SMC biology, we have shown
(1) a
marked SMC heterogeneity in adult
arterial vessels, ie, coexistence
of an "immature"
and a fully differentiated SMC population;
and (2) the propensity of
the immature type SMC population to
be activated in
experimental models and human vascular diseases
that are characterized
by proliferation and migration of medial
SMCs into the
subendothelial space.
Key Words: smooth muscle cells atherosclerosis myosin isoforms differentiation
 |
Introduction
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Growth and
differentiation of SMCs have an important impact
on the biology of
several diffuse vascular diseases, such as
atherosclerosis
and restenosis after
angioplasty or vein grafting.
1 The basic
feature of these
pathologies is the proliferation/migration
of medial SMCs to the
intima, which is accompanied by marked
morphological, biochemical, and
functional changes of the SMCs
in the adult arterial
vessel.
1 Unlike skeletal muscle fibers
and cardiac
myocytes, SMCs display remarkable plasticity in
terms of
differentiation, proliferation, and motility, characteristics
that are
particularly evident when adult arteries are subjected
to wall
injuries.
1 Interestingly, all three muscle tissues
recapitulate
some aspects of ontogenesis when hyperplastic or
hypertrophic
growth is induced in adulthood as part of an adaptive
response
to some pathophysiological
stimulus.
1 2 Thus, delineation of
the differentiation
profile of vascular SMCs in experimental
animal models and human
disease could be instrumental for understanding
the basic mechanism(s)
that allows development of the atherosclerotic
lesion and
restenosis. Among the various SMC differentiation
markers,
myosin appears to be a powerful tool to study the structural
modifications
that these cells undergo during development, in vitro,
and in
vascular disease.
3 In striated muscle, this protein
is expressed
in tissues and in a developmental stagespecific manner,
and
the myosin isoform pattern correlates with specific contractile
properties.
4 In SM and NM systems, recent achievements in
the biochemistry
of the respective myosin variants indicate that
structural modifications
of the heavy subunits (ie, MyHC) can be
associated with different
functional characteristics.
4 In
addition, it has been found
that NM-MyHC isoforms are differentially
expressed in SMCs during
physiological and
pathological vascular remodeling
3 and that
SM myosin is
present exclusively in the SMC lineage during
development.
5 These data clearly indicate that myosin is a
reliable marker
to study the phenotypic SMC transitions and the factors
that
can affect the differentiative stability of these
cells.
1 3 4 6 We will review the work done in this field
and place a
major emphasis on the existence of different levels of SMC
heterogeneity
in developmental and pathological
vascular remodeling.
 |
Some Structural Features of Myosin Isoforms
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Given the coexistence of SM and NM variants of MyHC in vascular
SMCs,
a brief description of the biochemistry of both isoforms will
be
furnished. In the arterial vessels, two isoforms of
SM-MyHC,
SM1 (204 kD) and SM2 (200 kD), are the products of an
alternative
mRNA splicing process at the 3'
C terminus of a
primary transcript
obtained from a single gene
3 6 that has
been localized to chromosome
16q12 in humans. Subvariants of SM1 and
SM2, called SM1A and
SM2A, respectively, are expressed predominantly in
vascular
SM tissue and are formed by an alternative splicing mechanism
at
the level of a 25/50-kD junction at the 5'
N
terminus.
3 6 It
seems that the lack of 7 amino acids in
the "vascular" type
A MyHC isoform is responsible for the lower
ATPase activity
and slower movement of actin filaments in in vitro
motility
assay with respect to the "visceral" variants
(SM1B/SM2B).
4
Two genes coding for NM-MyHC isoforms, named MyHC-A
(196 kD) and MyHC-B (198/200 kD), are expressed in vascular
SMCs6 7 and have been mapped to chromosomes 22q11.2 and
17p13, respectively. At the protein level and with techniques that use
antibodies to sequence-specific peptides, there is evidence that
another NM-MyHC subtype exists in the vascular wall: the
MyHC-Apla (platelet type,
200 kD).8
Both MyHC-A and MyHC-B show distinct intracellular localization in
interphase cells and throughout mitosis. In addition, the velocity of
movement of actin filaments is faster for MyHC-A than for
MyHC-B.6
 |
Myosin Isoforms and SMC Heterogeneity During
Development and in Adult and Aged Arteries
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A large number of markers have been used to study the cellular
pathway
whereby the conversion from uncommitted mesodermal cells to
fully
committed SMCs is accomplished during embryogenesis (discussed
in
Reference 1
1 ). Among the most studied differentiation markers,
SM-type

-actin is the first to be expressed in the course of
aortic
vasculogenesis in the chicken,
9 followed by SM22

and
calponin.
1 All three proteins, however, are transiently
present in embryonic
cardiac and skeletal muscle, although during
later development
their expression is restricted to SM
tissue.
1 6 In embryonic
mice, SM-MyHC expression is first
detected at 10.5 days postcoitum,
5 ie, later than the
other three markers but specifically localized
in SMCs. Given that SMC
lineage can be divided into three stages,
namely, commitment,
differentiation, and maturation,
1 the appearance
of SM
myosin during vasculogenesis can be associated with the
intermediate
(differentiation) phase of this process.
The SM1 isoform is constitutively expressed throughout development in
rabbit,10 human,11 12 and
bovine13 aortas, whereas SM2 appears after birth in
rabbit10 and bovine13 aortas and at a late
gestational stage in human fetal arteries.11 12 However,
SM2 expression during closure of the ductus arteriosus and umbilical
arteries does not fit this scheme. In the fetal rabbit,14
closure of these vessels is preceded by the early expression of SM2,
which is lacking in umbilical veins and other embryonic blood vessels.
The adult human pulmonary artery is distinct from the aorta
owing to the presence of an additional SM-type isoform of
190 kD
(MyHC-3).15 In bovine pulmonary artery, a specific
distribution of SM1/SM2 is seen in large, medium, and small segments of
the vessel.16 Similarly, a marked SMC
heterogeneity in the SM1/SM2 content is shown in the
bovine inferior vena cava and portal vein.16
In addition, the porcine inferior vena cava contains a
unique isoform of 196 kD (MyHC3),17 possibly
similar to MyHC-3. Differences in the distribution of SM1/SM2 isoforms
are also evident within a given arterial vessel.
SM-MyHC composition differs in developing and adult arteries,
between adult arteries and veins, and within the same vessel as well.
The MyHC-B NM myosin isoform (also identified as
SMemb11 18 ) present in aortic SM is downregulated with
development,11 18 in close relationship with the
upregulation of SM2. In humans, however, MyHC-B is detected in the
adult also.11
Using a panel of monoclonal antibodies to platelet MyHC whose
specific epitope is localized to the 15-kD
-chymotryptic fragment of
the head portion of the myosin molecule,19 we have been
able to demonstrate a time-dependent regulation of 196-kD
MyHC-Apla isoform expression in the human
aorta12 that is similar to that of MyHC-B.11
By contrast, another 196-kD MyHC-Apla isoform is
constitutively expressed throughout all developmental stages
examined.12 This latter isoform shows a distribution of
immunostaining pattern in various NM tissues/cells that
is similar to that of MyHC-A (MyHC-Alike).12
The use of antiMyHC-Apla antibodies in the study of
differentiation/maturation of rabbit aortic SMCs has revealed that a
200-kD NM-MyHC is expressed from day 19 in utero until birth (SMC
positive with NM-F6 antibody, tentatively named
MyHC-Apla1), whereas another isoform of 200 kD is
present in the postnatal period of development but its expression
declines progressively up to day 90 (tentatively named
MyHC-Apla2).20 Time-dependent downregulation
of postnatal-type SMCs is more rapid in the carotid artery versus the
aorta.21 In the adult, this phenotype is still
expressed in a minority of aortic SMCs, accounting for 4% of the total
SMC number22 at the level of aortic valve and
10% at
the level of the aortic bifurcation.23
On this basis, we have identified a three-step maturation
process: fetal (SM1+MyHC-Apla1/2), postnatal
(SM1/SM2+MyHC-Apla2), and adult (SM1/SM2; see also Fig 1
).3 20 Thus, in the adult rabbit aorta,
two developmentally regulated SMC populations appear during the course
of the maturation phase of the SMC lineage program. Extensive SMC
heterogeneity and persistence of "immature"
medial SMC populations result from the differential distribution of
NM-MyHCpla myosins13 and the peculiar
SM1/SM2-metavinculin composition of morphologically distinct SMC
populations.24

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Figure 1. Schematic representation of phenotypic
changes occurring during developmental and pathological remodeling in
experimental animals and humans. Three developmental stages can be
identified in the course of differentiation/maturation of the rabbit
aorta, as characterized by expression of fetal- (red), postnatal-
(blue), and adult- (green) type SMCs. Small arteries do not undergo
such cell transition but express the fetal-type myosin isoform
repertoire of the aorta in both fetal and adult stages of development.
A minority of vessels, especially evident in fetal or young animals, do
not possess SM myosin (yellow). During later development, the majority
of microvessels display a fetal-type SMC content. Application of a
number of exogenous stimuli to adult rabbit aortas induces expansion
(upregulation) or reduction (downregulation) of postnatal-type medial
SMCs. The former event may be eventually accompanied by
proliferation/migration of this cell population into the
subendothelial space and the subsequent formation of an
intimal thickening/atherosclerotic lesion. In human coronary
arteries, the phenotypic status of SMCs in the atheroma
might be involved in dictating the tendency to restenosis after
balloon angioplasty. Nothing is known, however, about the
differentiation pattern of medial SMCs subjacent to restenotic
tissue.
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|
SMC heterogeneity is less evident in the
microvasculature, where the cell transitions described for large
vessels are lacking. In peripheral resistance arterioles,
SM and NM-MyHCpla myosins are coexpressed. Depending on
localization (skeletal muscle23 or dental
pulp21 ), a variable number of these small vessels do
not express SM myosin, as reported by Price et al25 (see
also Fig 1
). Vessels lacking SM myosin are more numerous in the
postnatal period than in the adult.21 25
In rats, the basic SM1/SM2 isoform expression does not vary with aging
(13 or 28 months), but there is downregulation of the
MyHC-Apla2 isoform 12 days after birth.26 The
MyHC-Apla1 isoform is undetectable in this
system.26
 |
SM Myosin Expression in Cultured Vascular SMCs
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It is well known that SMCs grown in vitro can undergo a phenotypic
cell
transition from the normally quiescent ("contractile")
status
observed in vivo to a proliferative-secretory
state
27 that
resembles the SMC phenotypic change in
atherogenesis and vasculogenesis.
1 The general feature of
cultured SMCs is the downregulation
of SM myosin isoform expression,
particularly of SM2,
13 concomitant
with upregulation of NM
myosin variants MyHC-A
pla1, MyHC-A,
and
MyHC-B.
4 These tendencies depend, however, on cellular
density,
serum concentration, and substrate for
attachment.
27 Upregulation
of SM1/SM2 and downregulation
of both MyHC-A and MyHC-B expression
can be seen in rat cultured SMCs
that have been subjected to
mechanical strain under culture conditions
that favor SMC proliferation.
28 This finding indicates
that growth and differentiation are
not mutually exclusive and that
differentiation potential is
retained in vitro, provided permissive
conditions are applied
to the culture.
28
 |
Environmental Cues Affecting Myosin Isoform Expression and SMC
Heterogeneity
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Myosin gene expression can be regulated during early development
(effect
on the differentiation phase of the SMC lineage program) or
in
adulthood (alteration of the stability of the fully differentiated
SMC
phenotype). Retinoic acid is involved in the precocious
upregulation
of SM2 in the ductus arteriosus, as demonstrated by the
use
of transgenic mice carrying a retinoic acidresponsive
element.
29 There are a number of experimental conditions
under which expression
of MyHC-A
pla-type NM myosin isoforms
can be affected. As shown
in Fig 1

and reviewed in Reference 3
3 , there
are various chemical
and hormonal stimuli or
pathophysiological conditions that can
increase the
"size" of the fetal/postnatal SMC compartment in
the
arterial media. This may eventually be accompanied by loss
of
positional control, directional movement from the media to the
intima,
and accumulation in the subendothelial space or
preexisting
intimal layer. Conversely, the decrease or disappearance of
postnatal
SMCs from the media is never associated with
neointima formation.
As previously pointed
out,
3 expansion of fetal/postnatal SMC
populations seems
to be a prerequisite for neointima formation.
This change
in medial SMCs is probably necessary to acquire
the competence for
migration or proliferation, although proliferation
and differentiation
are not necessarily linked to each other.
2
 |
SMC Populations and Myosin Isoform Expression in Atherogenesis,
Endothelial Lesions, and Restenosis
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SMCs play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of
atherosclerosis.
3 We were the first to
demonstrate that in experimentally induced
atherosclerotic lesions (of
endogenous or exogenous origin),
reexpression of an
immature type of myosin isoform pattern (SM1+MyHC-A
pla2)
occurs.
30 31 Other authors have also shown that a
fetal-like MyHC-B expression
is similarly upregulated in the rabbit
plaque.
18 In this latter
work, MyHC-B expression in SMCs
was restricted to the atherosclerotic
lesion, whereas
MyHC-A
pla2 was also upregulated in the medial
region
subjacent the plaque.
30 31 The lack of SM2 expression
and
upregulation of MyHC-B are also hallmarks of human
atherosclerosis.
11
The importance of immature-type SMC populations as the cellular target
of some risk factors is supported by the following observations: (1)
Atherosclerotic lesions in hypercholesterolemic rabbits
develop exclusively in arterial sites that, in
normocholesterolemic animals, contain clusters of
postnatal-type SMCs,21 31 and (2) the
atherosclerosis resistance of some species (eg, rat)
when exposed to a cholesterol enriched-diet26
or endogenous hyperlipidemia associated
with NO synthase inhibition is accompanied by the lack of expansion of
immature-type SMC populations.32
A high serum cholesterol level is a favorable condition for
atherogenesis and hence for the expansion of immature-type SMC
populations. However, a high serum cholesterol level can be
maintained even with the use of the dihydropyridine
Ca2+ channel blockers nifedipine33 and
nitrendipine34 that act selectively as antiatherosclerotic
drugs by reducing the development of plaque via lowering the number of
immature-type SMCs.
The formation of a thickened intima after balloon angioplasty in
the rabbit aorta/carotid artery has furnished useful information by
serving as a model for revealing the relationship between changes in
the differentiation profile and the proliferative behavior of SMCs. For
example, SM1 and MyHC-B, but not SM2, are expressed in the
neointima, again demonstrating the presence of an
"embryonic phenotype."35 Proliferating
medial SMCs that underlie the thickened intima appear to specifically
contain MyHC-B.35 Similar results were obtained with our
monoclonal antibodies specific for MyHC-Apla isoforms (Fig 2
). A fetal-type SMC phenotype was expressed in
the neointima (also confirmed by the presence of the EIIIA
fibronectin variant36 ), whereas a postnatal-type SMC
population was visible in the subjacent media. Most of the
proliferating SMCs in media and all of those in the
neointima were of the immature type, although only a
minority of immature SMCs were actively proliferating. On the other
hand, the majority of this cell population is not involved in
apoptosis. These findings show again that (1) growth and
differentiation are two distinct phenomena in the SM system and (2)
acquisition of the immature SMC phenotype does not make this
cell particularly vulnerable to apoptosis, at least at this
time of the process.

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Figure 2. Photomicrographs showing
immunofluorescence patterns of injured rabbit
carotid 7 days after angioplasty (A-D, I-L) and of the contralateral
intact carotid artery (E-H) with anti-myosin (A-C, E-G, I, K), IST9
anti-EIIIA fibronectin (D, H), and anti-BrdU (J) antibodies. A, E:
SM-E7 anti-SM myosin (specific for SM1/SM2); B, F, I, K: NM-G2 anti-NM
myosin (specific for MyHC-Apla2); and C, G: NM-F6 anti-NM
myosin (specific for MyHC-Apla1). TUNEL-positive nuclei are
shown in panel L. a indicates adventitia; e,
endothelium; iel, internal elastic lamina; it, intimal
thickening; and m, tunica media. Note that medial SMCs in the control
vessel are of the adult type except for rare, postnatal-type SMCs (F).
In the neointima and underlying media, SMCs are brightly
stained with NM-G2 and weakly with SM-E7, whereas NM-F6 and
anti-fibronectin antibodies label the intimal thickening almost
exclusively. A few NM-F6positive cells can be detected just beneath
the internal elastic lamina (double asterisk in C). Thus, postnatal and
fetal SMCs are present in the media and neointima,
respectively, of the injured carotid artery. BrdU-positive cells are
localized mainly in the inner part of the carotid artery, where
postnatal SMCs and a few apoptotic cells are also visible. Note
that the majority of postnatal SMCs (I) contain BrdU-positive nuclei
(stars), but some proliferating cells are unreactive to NM-G2
(asterisks in I and J). Similarly, apoptotic cells in K can
stain positively (asterisks in L) or negatively (star) for NM-G2 with
this antibody. BrdU injections in rabbit were performed as previously
described.3 Angioplasty was carried out by essentially
following the procedure described in Reference 36. A-D, E-F, and I-J
are serial cryosections. K, L are
double-immunofluorescence images obtained with
rhodaminated antiNM-G2 and fluoresceinated antibody
contained in Boehringer Mannheim's TUNEL kit. Bar=60
µm.
|
|
Alteration in the stability of the SMC differentiation pattern also
occurs in restenosis after directional atherectomy. Data
collected by Isner and coworkers37 in human
coronary arteries indicated the expression of MyHC-B was
upregulated compared with that in one of the primary lesions
(atherosclerotic plaque) from the same arterial site of the
same patient. MyHC-A expression in primary versus secondary lesions
does not vary.37 A prospective study performed on patients
who underwent directional atherectomy revealed that the MyHC-B mRNA
content of the primary lesion was predictive of the tendency to develop
restenosis.37 In other words, in coronary
arteries with numerous immature SMCs in the plaque, there is a higher
tendency to restenosis.
The existence of immature-type SMCs in the intimal thickening (ie, the
"soil"2 ) that precedes the atherosclerotic
lesion12 should also be taken into account. The possible
site specificity of the distribution of such cell
populations12 might influence the final outcome of SMC
composition in the plaque and, hence, that of the restenosis
process. Although a high proliferating-cell nuclear antigen level and
high outgrowth from tissue explants are displayed by restenotic
compared with primary lesion specimens,37 a study aimed at
correlating such indices to the tendency of retrieving the
immature-type pattern of MyHC isoforms has not yet been carried out.
This point is especially important if one considers that the
replicating level of coronary SMCs is still
disputed.2
 |
Experimental Hypertension, Changes in Myosin Isoform Pattern, and
SMC Heterogeneity in Large Conduit Arteries and
Peripheral Vessels
|
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In a rabbit model of renovascular hypertension characterized
by
intimal thickening, aortic wall hypertrophy was accompanied
by
marked augmentation of the postnatal-type SMC population in
the
media.
38 Similarly, in stroke-prone spontaneously
hypertensive
rats, the increase in blood pressure leads to SMC
hypertrophy,
as mirrored by expansion of the immature SMC
population.
39 Thus, proliferation/migration and
hypertrophy of medial SMCs
are both characterized by the
same phenotypic change. Blood
pressure level is not involved in
regulating such phenomena,
as demonstrated by the preventive effect of
anipamil, a phenylalkylamine-derived
Ca
2+
antagonist, on intimal thickening formation in renovascular
hypertensive
rabbits.
40 The pharmacological effect of this
drug is accomplished
not only by reducing in vitro expression of
MyHC-A
pla2 (an effect
also elicited by the
dihydropyridine Ca
2+ channel blockers)
but
also by maintaining adequate levels of SM myosin isoform
expression.
Whereas in large vessels, such as the rabbit aorta, the postnatal-type
SMC population is susceptible to variation in size (see Fig 1
), the SMC
population in resistance small vessels is stable and does not change,
even when an increase in blood pressure is applied.23 This
is another demonstration that the biology of SMCs in these two
arterial regions is intrinsically different. Unfortunately,
data about the differentiation profile of SMCs and the remodeling
process of human arterioles in hypertensive patients are still
lacking.
 |
Perspectives
|
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The data discussed in this review point to the existence of
SMC
heterogeneity in vascular tissue on the basis of the
structural
and functional diversity of unique cell types.
Identification
of a peculiar SMC population that is involved in the
"response-to-injury"
process supports the hypothesis that a
specific cellular "soil"
might be an advantageous condition for
development of the arterial
wall lesion. The following
issues should be examined in future
work:
(1) A detailed, in vivo distribution map of basic SMC phenotypic
characteristics in arteries versus veins and in arteries of different
size versus those of the periphery is necessary to acquire sufficient
information about the biology of vascular SMCs. Despite widespread use
of vein tissue in bypass surgery, the biology of venous SMCs is poorly
understood. The use, at protein and nucleic acid levels, of myosin
isoform markers seems particularly useful to monitor changes in the
late phase of development.
(2) Because in the adult the hyperplastic/hypertrophic growth response
of the arterial wall to injury includes some recapitulation
of ontogenesis, the early phases of vasculogenesis/angiogenesis should
be established in more detail. The use of myosin isoform probes in
association with other differentiation markers (eg, SM-type
-actin,
SM22
, and calponin) seems to be particularly promising.
(3) The existence of structural and functional SMC
heterogeneity in arterial vessels has also
been confirmed by cell cloning in the rat.41 42 Some SMC
populations that have originated from cloning of adult SM tissue
display features in common with developing and
"phenotype-modulated" adult rat SMCs.41 42 The
proliferative/migratory/differentiative capacity of cell clones should
be tested with different myosin isoform contents to ascertain the
correspondence with the in vivo behavior of injured SMCs.
(4) With the consideration that NM myosin isoform expression is
particularly evident at some "strategic" sites of adult arteries,
it would be of interest to study whether such distribution is due to a
selective availability of environmental cues or is dictated by a
morphogenic process initiated early during vasculogenesis and completed
after birth.
 |
Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms
|
|---|
| MyHC |
= |
myosin heavy chain |
| NM |
= |
nonmuscle |
| SM(C) |
= |
smooth muscle (cell) |
| TUNEL |
= |
terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling |
|
|
 |
Acknowledgments
|
|---|
This work was supported in part by the Biomedical Association
for
Vascular Research. The authors thank Lisa Galliani for her
excellent
editing work.
Received March 4, 1997;
accepted March 7, 1997.
 |
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