Don't judge books by their covers: Vascular smooth muscle cells in arterial pathologies

摘要

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play important physiological and pathophysiological roles. Two articles in the current issue focus on the latter in atherosclerosis and in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Notably, Allahverdian et al report that, in human coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques, many cells typically classified as macrophages are likely to be of VSMC origin, and Ricard et al report that, in PAH, VSMCs contributing to obstructive remodeling of the distal branches of the pulmonary artery likely arose from pericytes.