Stress, Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype and Atherosclerosis: Novel Insight into Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Transition in Atherosclerosis

Purpose of Review Our work is to establish more distinct association between specific stress and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) phenotypes to alleviate atherosclerotic plaque burden and delay atherosclerosis (AS) progression. Recent Finding In recent years, VSMCs phenotypic transition has received significant interests. Different stresses were found to be associated with VSMCs phenotypic transition. However, the explicit correlation between VSMCs phenotype and specific stress has not been elucidated clearly yet. Summary We discover that VSMCs phenotypic transition, which is widely involved in the progression of AS, is associated with specific stress. We discuss approaches targeting stresses to intervene VSMCs phenotypic transition, which may contribute to develop innovative therapies for AS.