Key pointsr Vascular oxidative stress increases with advancing age. r We hypothesized that resistance vessels develop resilience to oxidative stress to protect functional integrity and tested this hypothesis by exposing isolated pressurized superior epigastric arteries (SEAs) of old and young mice to H 2 O 2 . r H 2 O 2 -induced death was greater in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) than endothelial cells (ECs) and lower in SEAs from old vs. young mice; the rise in vessel wall [Ca 2+ ] i induced by H 2 O 2 was attenuated with ageing, as was the decline in noradrenergic vasoconstriction; genetic deletion of IL-10 mimicked the effects of advanced age on cell survival. r Inhibiting NO synthase or scavenging peroxynitrite reduced SMC death; endothelial denudation or inhibiting gap junctions increased SMC death; delocalization of cytochrome C activated caspases 9 and 3 to induce apoptosis.r Vascular cells develop resilience to H 2 O 2 during ageing by preventing Ca 2+ overload and endothelial integrity promotes SMC survival.Abstract Advanced age is associated with elevated oxidative stress and can protect the endothelium from cell death induced by H 2 O 2 . Whether such protection occurs for intact vessels or differs between smooth muscle cell (SMC) and endothelial cell (EC) layers is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that ageing protects SMCs and ECs during acute exposure to H 2 O 2 (200 µM, 50 min). Mouse superior epigastric arteries (SEAs; diameter, ß150 µm) were isolated and pressurized to 100 cmH 2 O at 37˚C. For SEAs from young (4 months) mice, H 2 O 2 killed 57% of SMCs and 11% of ECs in males vs. 8% and 2%, respectively, in females. Therefore, SEAs from males were studied to resolve the effect of ageing and experimental interventions. For old (24 months) Charles E. Norton III is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Steven Segal's laboratory at the University of Missouri, Columbia. His interest in vascular physiology developed as an undergraduate and PhD student studying mechanisms of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension at the University of New Mexico. Dr Norton's primary interest is in understanding how chemical and electrical communication between endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells modulate vasomotor tone and cell death. Currently, he is exploring how conditions of chronic oxidative stress alter resilience to apoptosis.C. E. Norton and others J Physiol 597.15 mice, SMC death was reduced to 10% with diminished accumulation of [Ca 2+ ] i in the vessel wall during H 2 O 2 exposure. In young mice, genetic deletion of IL-10 mimicked the protective effect of ageing on cell death and [Ca 2+ ] i accumulation. Whereas endothelial denudation or gap junction inhibition (carbenoxolone; 100 µM) increased SMC death, inhibiting NO synthase (L-NAME, 100 µM) or scavenging peroxynitrite (FeTPPS, 5 µM) reduced SMC death along with [Ca 2+ ] i . Despite NO toxicity via peroxynitrite formation, endothelial integrity protects SMCs. Caspase inhibition (Z-VAD-FMK, 50 µM) attenuated cell death with immunostaining for annex...