(A) Binding of defensin to vascular smooth muscle cells. ¹²⁵I-defensin was incubated with HVSMCs alone or in the presence of 100-fold molar excess unlabeled defensin and the cell-associated radioactivity was determined. (⊡) Total binding; (♦) specific binding. The mean ± SD of three experiments is shown. (B) Defensin stimulates the binding of Lp(a) to HVSMCs. Cells were incubated with the indicated concentrations of ¹²⁵I-Lp(a) alone or in the presence of 3 μmol/L defensin for 4 hours and the specific binding was determined. Binding of Lp(a) in the absence (⊡) and in the presence (♦) of defensin. The mean ± SD of three experiments is shown.