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The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Atheroprotective roles of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation and the TCF21 disease gene as revealed by single-cell analysis

Open access
Wirka, Robert C., Wagh, Dhananjay, Paik, David T., Pjanic, Milos, Nguyen, Trieu, Miller, Clint L., Kundu, Ramen, Nagao, Manabu, Coller, John, Koyano, Tiffany K., Fong, Robyn, Woo, Y. Joseph, Liu, Boxiang, Montgomery, Stephen B., Wu, Joseph C., Zhu, Kuixi, Chang, Rui, Alamprese, Melissa, Tallquist, Michelle D., Kim, Juyong B., Quertermous, Thomas·2019·Nature Medicine

Abstract

In response to various stimuli, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) can de-differentiate, proliferate and migrate in a process known as phenotypic modulation. However, the phenotype of modulated SMCs in vivo during atherosclerosis and the influence of this process on coronary artery disease (CAD) risk have not been clearly established. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we comprehensively characterized the transcriptomic phenotype of modulated SMCs in vivo in atherosclerotic lesions of both mouse and human arteries and found that these cells transform into unique fibroblast-like cells, termed ‘fibromyocytes’, rather than into a classical macrophage phenotype. SMC-specific knockout of TCF21—a causal CAD gene—markedly inhibited SMC phenotypic modulation in mice, leading to the presence of fewer fibromyocytes within lesions as well as within the protective fibrous cap of the lesions. Moreover, TCF21 expression was strongly associated with SMC phenotypic modulation in diseased human coronary arteries, and higher levels of TCF21 expression were associated with decreased CAD risk in human CAD-relevant tissues. These results establish a protective role for both TCF21 and SMC phenotypic modulation in this disease. The human coronary artery disease gene TCF21 promotes the transformation of smooth muscle cells within atherosclerotic plaques into a newly identified population of fibroblast-like cells that contribute to plaque stability.

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Metadata

Authors
Wirka, R. C., Wagh, D., Paik, D. T., Pjanic, M., Nguyen, T., Miller, C. L., Kundu, R., Nagao, M., Coller, J., Koyano, T. K., Fong, R., Woo, Y. J., Liu, B., Montgomery, S. B., Wu, J. C., Zhu, K., Chang, R., Alamprese, M., Tallquist, M. D., Kim, J. B., & Quertermous, T.
Venue
Nature Medicine
Published
2019-07-29
Volume
25
Issue
8
Pages
1280-1289
ISSN
  • 1078-8956 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-170X
OpenAlex
W2966605790
Cited by
873
References
39
FWCI
24.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green
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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Atheroprotective roles of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation and the TCF21 disease gene as revealed by single-cell analysis. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1038/s41591-019-0512-5
The paper
Wirka, R. C., Wagh, D., Paik, D. T., Pjanic, M., Nguyen, T., Miller, C. L., Kundu, R., Nagao, M., Coller, J., Koyano, T. K., Fong, R., Woo, Y. J., Liu, B., Montgomery, S. B., Wu, J. C., Zhu, K., Chang, R., Alamprese, M., Tallquist, M. D., . . . Quertermous, T. (2019). Atheroprotective roles of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation and the TCF21 disease gene as revealed by single-cell analysis. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0512-5

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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