ReviewCardiovascular research2018
Role of smooth muscle cells in vascular calcification: implications in atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness.
Review in Cardiovascular research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 611 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
611 citing papers in PubMed, 1,042 citations in OpenAlex.
- Progress on the related mechanisms of vascular calcification in autogenous arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis patients.Renal failure · 2026Review
- Integrative transcriptomic and single-cell analysis identifies anoikis-related molecular signatures in vascular calcification.Renal failure · 2026Article
- Immobilzation-Induced Muscle Atrophy Exacerbates Vascular Calcification and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Through Irisin Downregulation.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2026Article
- TNALP associated calcium phosphate microdeposition contributes to thoracic aortic dissection susceptibility.Communications biology · 2026Article
- A vascular calcification model enabled by aniScience · 2026Article
- Gut Dysbiosis, Sex, and Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Maladaptive Piezo1 Mechanotransduction Drives Smooth Muscle Aging in the Gut.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- SNAI2/SLUG: a key regulator of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and vascular remodeling in cardiovascular diseases.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2026Review
- Diabetic plaque calcification: mechanisms, imaging phenotypes, and clinical implications.npj metabolic health and disease · 2026Review
- Cellular crosstalk between endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells via the BACH1/COL3A1 axis promotes vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2026Article
- Indoxyl Sulfate Promotes Vascular Calcification in Association with Oxidative Stress and Activation of ERK and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Screening for candidate genes and cell populations associated with atherosclerotic calcification using single-cell RNA sequencing.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Article
- Long-term remodeling of compliance matched tissue engineered vascular grafts is sex specific.Acta biomaterialia · 2026Article
- Targeting RANKL Prevents Bone Loss, Improves Muscle Function and Extends Lifespan in Progeroid Mice.Aging cell · 2026Article
- Aortic calcification and contrast-associated acute kidney injury in patients undergoing urgent coronary angiography.Heart and vessels · 2026Article
- Article
- L-NAME promotes foam cell formation and synthetic phenotype marker changes in vascular smooth muscle cells independent of hemodynamic effects.BMC molecular and cell biology · 2026Article
- Protein lactylation in health and diseases: molecular mechanisms, biological significance, and clinical implications.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
551 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
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Vascular calcification is associated with a significant increase in all-cause mortality and atherosclerotic plaque rupture. Calcification has been determined to be an active process driven in part by vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) transdifferentiation within the vascular wall. Historically, VSMC phenotype switching has been viewed as binary, with the cells able to adopt a physiological contractile phenotype or an alternate 'synthetic' phenotype in response to injury. More recent work, including lineage tracing has however revealed that VSMCs are able to adopt a number of phenotypes, including calcific (osteogenic, chondrocytic, and osteoclastic), adipogenic, and macrophagic phenotypes. Whilst the mechanisms that drive VSMC differentiation are still being elucidated it is becoming clear that medial calcification may differ in several ways from the intimal calcification seen in atherosclerotic lesions, including risk factors and specific drivers for VSMC phenotype changes and calcification. This article aims to compare and contrast the role of VSMCs in driving calcification in both atherosclerosis and in the vessel media focusing on the major drivers of calcification, including aging, uraemia, mechanical stress, oxidative stress, and inflammation. The review also discusses novel findings that have also brought attention to specific pro- and anti-calcifying proteins, extracellular vesicles, mitochondrial dysfunction, and a uraemic milieu as major determinants of vascular calcification.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.