ArticleJCI insight2017
Diverse cellular architecture of atherosclerotic plaque derives from clonal expansion of a few medial SMCs.
Article in JCI insight, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers.
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Who cites it
102 citing papers in PubMed, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), vascular somatic mutation, and cardiovascular disease: A narrative review.Vascular medicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- Loss of the Coronary Artery Disease Risk GeneCirculation · 2026Article
- The changing epidemiology of human type 2 diabetes-associated atherosclerosis: Pathophysiological mechanisms and emerging treatment possibilities.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Review
- Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity in Atherosclerosis: Mechanisms, Recent Advances, and Therapeutic Implications.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- A rare pre-existing progenitor-like Primed SMC compartment is the dominant inferred source of SMC-derived cellularity in vascular injury and atherosclerosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- FOXC1: A Key Transcription Factor of VSMC-Derived Foam Cell Formation in Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability.The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences · 2026Article
- The nonexcitable smooth muscle: remodeling the smooth muscle ion transport toolkit in disease.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Expression of Chitosanase-3-like Protein 1 in Outflow Tract Veins of Patients with Autologous Arteriovenous Fistula Failure and Potential Involvement with Phenotypic Transformation of Medial Smooth Muscle Cells.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Vascular smooth muscle cell state trajectories mediate molecular mechanisms of coronary disease risk.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation during atherosclerosis.Vascular pharmacology · 2026Review
- A Comprehensive Review of Epigenetic Regulation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells During Development and Disease.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Role and mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic transition in diabetic macrovascular complications.Biological research · 2026Review
- Foam cells: tracing the diverse cellular origins and their linked signaling pathways.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis: essential but overlooked translational perspectives.European heart journal · 2025Review
- Mapping atherogenesis mechanisms in smooth muscle cells by targeting genes linked to coronary artery disease.iScience · 2025Article
- Delineation of a thrombin receptor-stimulated vascular smooth muscle cell transition generating cells in the plaque-stabilizing fibrous cap.Cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- Immature Acta2Nature communications · 2025Article
- Cyclodextrin attenuates atherosclerosis by diminishing gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Smooth Muscle Cell-Derived Fibronectin Promotes an Atheroprotective Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype Associated With Altered NO-cGMP Signaling.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Mutational landscape of atherosclerotic plaques reveals large clonal cell populations.JCI insight · 2025Article
42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fibrous cap smooth muscle cells (SMCs) protect atherosclerotic lesions from rupturing and causing thrombosis, while other plaque SMCs may have detrimental roles in plaque development. To gain insight into recruitment of different plaque SMCs, we mapped their clonal architecture in aggregation chimeras of eGFP+Apoe-/- and Apoe-/- mouse embryos and in mice with a mosaic expression of fluorescent proteins in medial SMCs that were rendered atherosclerotic by PCSK9-induced hypercholesterolemia. Fibrous caps in aggregation chimeras were found constructed from large, endothelial-aligned layers of either eGFP+ or nonfluorescent SMCs, indicating substantial clonal expansion of a few cells. Similarly, plaques in mice with SMC-restricted Confetti expression showed oligoclonal SMC populations with little intermixing between the progeny of different medial SMCs. Phenotypes comprised both ACTA2+ SMCs in the cap and heterogeneous ACTA2- SMCs in the plaque interior, including chondrocyte-like cells and cells with intracellular lipid and crystalline material. Fibrous cap SMCs were invariably arranged in endothelium-aligned clonal sheets, confirming results in the aggregation chimeras. Analysis of the clonal structure showed that a low number of local medial SMCs partake in atherosclerosis and that single medial SMCs can produce several different SMC phenotypes in plaque. The combined results show that few medial SMCs proliferate to form the entire phenotypically heterogeneous plaque SMC population in murine atherosclerosis.
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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.