ArticleCirculation2020
Single-Cell Genomics Reveals a Novel Cell State During Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Switching and Potential Therapeutic Targets for Atherosclerosis in Mouse and Human.
Article in Circulation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 431 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
431 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 589 citations in OpenAlex.
- Candidate Biomarkers Linking Periodontitis with Atherosclerotic and Related Cardiovascular Phenotypes: A Systematic Review Focused on Sex-Specific Evidence.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Single-cell sequencing-guided discovery of narciclasine as a dual VCAM-1/ICAM-1 inhibitor for atherosclerosis management.Genes & diseases · 2027Article
- Vascular calcification: pathogenic mechanisms, signaling crosstalk and translational therapeutics.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Article
- PET imaging of atherosclerotic plaques using the stabilin-2-targeted tracerEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- A single-cell census of pulmonary endarterectomies tissue across different anatomical regions in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Article
- THE MICROANATOMY OF INTRACRANIAL HUMAN THROMBI BY SINGLE NUCLEI TRANSCRIPTOMICS.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Salvianolic Acid a Disrupts the HSP90α-AKT-PERK Ternary Complex to Alleviate Atherosclerosis by Activating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress of Senescent Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Roles of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in cardiovascular diseases: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Single-cell transcriptomics reveals cell-type-specific circadian rhythms and their disruption by acute misalignment in mouse aorta.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Potential Role of the Gut-Vascular Axis in Ciprofloxacin-Associated Aggravation of Aortic Dissection.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Article
- 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
- Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity as a Central Determinant of Plaque Stability.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- Loss of the Coronary Artery Disease Risk GeneCirculation · 2026Article
- HMGB1 as a danger signal in vascular remodeling.The Korean journal of physiology & pharmacology : official journal of the Korean Physiological Society and the Korean Society of Pharmacology · 2026Review
- tRNA-derived small RNAs in vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching and vascular remodelling.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity in Atherosclerosis: Mechanisms, Recent Advances, and Therapeutic Implications.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- Decoding the Sex-Specific Architecture of Carotid Plaque Instability.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026Article
- 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
- Kinase regulation of miRNA networks in cardiometabolic disease: emerging pathways to precision therapy.Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Review
371 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSmooth muscle cells (SMCs) play significant roles in atherosclerosis via phenotypic switching, a pathological process in which SMC dedifferentiation, migration, and transdifferentiation into other cell types. Yet how SMCs contribute to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis remains elusive.
methodsTo reveal the trajectories of SMC transdifferentiation during atherosclerosis and to identify molecular targets for disease therapy, we combined SMC fate mapping and single-cell RNA sequencing of both mouse and human atherosclerotic plaques. We also performed cell biology experiments on isolated SMC-derived cells, conducted integrative human genomics, and used pharmacological studies targeting SMC-derived cells both in vivo and in vitro.
resultsWe found that SMCs transitioned to an intermediate cell state during atherosclerosis, which was also found in human atherosclerotic plaques of carotid and coronary arteries. SMC-derived intermediate cells, termed "SEM" cells (stem cell, endothelial cell, monocyte), were multipotent and could differentiate into macrophage-like and fibrochondrocyte-like cells, as well as return toward the SMC phenotype. Retinoic acid (RA) signaling was identified as a regulator of SMC to SEM cell transition, and RA signaling was dysregulated in symptomatic human atherosclerosis. Human genomics revealed enrichment of genome-wide association study signals for coronary artery disease in RA signaling target gene loci and correlation between coronary artery disease risk alleles and repressed expression of these genes. Activation of RA signaling by all-trans RA, an anticancer drug for acute promyelocytic leukemia, blocked SMC transition to SEM cells, reduced atherosclerotic burden, and promoted fibrous cap stability.
conclusionsIntegration of cell-specific fate mapping, single-cell genomics, and human genetics adds novel insights into the complexity of SMC biology and reveals regulatory pathways for therapeutic targeting of SMC transitions in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
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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.