True contractile SMC can only be found in intact tissue, or in very early primary cultures (ie before 7 days after isolation (the exact time depends on the species, seeding density etc)). Everything else is, more or less, synthetic. Keep in mind, though, that there is a sliding continuum between contractile and synthetic. Some SMC, even in vivo, have a synthetic phenotype. Some cultured SMC are less synthetic than others. Ascertaining the Vvmyo is the classic means of measuring the contractile/synthetic phenotype of the SMC. Refs: classic papers by Julie and Gordon Campbell and by Johan Thyberg.