ArticleNature medicine2016
Activation of the pluripotency factor OCT4 in smooth muscle cells is atheroprotective.
Article in Nature medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 148 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
148 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 228 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome-wide analysis identifies novel susceptibility loci for myocardial infarction.European heart journal · 2021Pooled it
- Cell-Surface Signatures and Targets of Modulated Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in Atherosclerosis: From State Identification to Precision Intervention.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026Review
- Dual Lineage Tracing Identifies Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Radiation-Associated Changes in Atherosclerotic Lesion Composition-Brief Report.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026Article
- Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity in Atherosclerosis: Mechanisms, Recent Advances, and Therapeutic Implications.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- Smooth Muscle Cell Cytoglobin is a Negative Regulator of Atherosclerotic Fibrous Cap Development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- FOXC1 Controls Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation and Plasticity in Vascular Disease.JACC. Basic to translational science · 2026Article
- Tiaozhi Tongmai Formula attenuates atherosclerosis by modulating the JAK1/STAT3 pathway to inhibit phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells.Cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptomic analysis identifies vascular smooth muscle cell transcriptional programs associated with human carotid plaque remodeling.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2026Article
- Sex-specific angiogenic responses in endothelial cells-role of the pluripotency factor OCT4.Angiogenesis · 2025Article
- Review
- Smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis: essential but overlooked translational perspectives.European heart journal · 2025Review
- PRDM16 regulates smooth muscle cell identity and atherosclerotic plaque composition.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- Flipping the PRDM16 switch in 'multifunctional mesenchymes' may help to define atherosclerotic plaque.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- Reconceptualizing Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in atherosclerosis: Signaling pathways and prospective targeting strategies.Journal of advanced research · 2025Review
- Coronary artery disease-associated variants regulate vascular smooth muscle cell gene expression.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- Immuno-metabolic diseases and therapeutics: molecular mechanisms via inflammasome signaling.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Review
- Kindlin-2 Deletion in Mural Cells Leads to Vascular Instability.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025Article
- AZU1 as a DNA Methylation-Driven Gene: Promoting Oxidative Stress in High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: A Therapeutic Target in Atherosclerosis.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Multifaceted roles of OCT4 in tumor microenvironment: biology and therapeutic implications.Oncogene · 2025Review
88 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Although somatic cell activation of the embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency factor OCT4 has been reported, this previous work has been controversial and has not demonstrated a functional role for OCT4 in somatic cells. Here we demonstrate that smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific conditional knockout of Oct4 in Apoe(-/-) mice resulted in increased lesion size and changes in lesion composition that are consistent with decreased plaque stability, including a thinner fibrous cap, increased necrotic core area, and increased intraplaque hemorrhage. Results of SMC-lineage-tracing studies showed that these effects were probably the result of marked reductions in SMC numbers within lesions and SMC investment within the fibrous cap, which may result from impaired SMC migration. The reactivation of Oct4 within SMCs was associated with hydroxymethylation of the Oct4 promoter and was hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α, encoded by HIF1A) and Krüppel-like factor-4 (KLF4)-dependent. These results provide the first direct evidence that OCT4 has a functional role in somatic cells, and they highlight the potential role of OCT4 in normal and diseased somatic cells.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.