Focal adhesions and the Golgi complex were visualized in the monolayer culture of A-10 cells shown above by immunofluorescent treatment with mouse anti-vinculin and rabbit anti-giantin primary antibodies followed by goat anti-mouse Fab fragments conjugated to Alexa Fluor 750 and goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody fragments (heavy and light chain) conjugated to Alexa Fluor 568. F-actin and mitochondria were simultaneously imaged with Alexa Fluor 488 conjugated to phalloidin and MitoTracker Deep Red 633, respectively. Hoechst 33342 was employed to counterstain cell nuclei. Images were recorded in grayscale with a 12-bit digital camera coupled to a Nikon Eclipse 80i microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles, with the exception of MitoTracker Deep Red 633, which was pseudocolored yellow, and Alexa Fluor 750, which was pseudocolored blue.

The A-10 cell line was initiated from the thoracic aorta of an embryonic rat (DB1X strain) and is heavily employed in scientific research. The cells exhibit most of the characteristics of smooth muscle cells and generate a number of cellular products, including the common muscle protein myosin and the enzymes myokinase and creatine phosphokinase. When they reach the stationary phase of the growth cycle, A-10 cells produce spontaneous action potentials. Also in this phase, the activity of myokinase and creatine phosphokinase generated by the myoblasts increases.

Extending from the aortic valve to the diaphragm, the thoracic aorta is an elastic, stratified tube comprised of three layers: the tunica intima, tunica media, and tunica adventitia. The tissue that served as the source of the A-10 cell line was part of the aorta's middle layer, also known as the tunica media. This layer is the muscular stratum of the aorta. In addition to smooth muscle cells, the tunica media contains an abundance of elastin fibers, which are important for propelling the blood through the aorta. Other components of the tunica media include collagen fibers and ground substance.