The blood vessels of the human body are predominantly made up of endothelial cells (EC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC). The remainder of it is composed of extracellular matric (ECM), which includes collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans (Robbins, 2007, pg. 340). The walls of the vessels can be separated into three layers. The innermost layer, or tunica intima is made up of a single layer of endothelial cells overlying extracellular matrix (Robbins, 2007, pg.340) The next layer, or tunica media is separated from the tunica intima by the internal elastic lamina; the tunica media is mainly composed of SMC’s
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