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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Author Spotlight: Enhanced Quantification of Cardiovascular Calcification Progression for Longitudinal Micro PET/CT Studies in Small Research Animals

Author Spotlight: Enhanced Quantification of Cardiovascular Calcification Progression for Longitudinal Micro PET/CT Studies in Small Research Animals

Published on: November 15, 2024

Cell Phenotype Transitions in Cardiovascular Calcification.

Luis Hortells¹, Swastika Sur¹, Cynthia St Hilaire¹

¹Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, and the Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, and Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

|April 11, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Vascular calcification, once thought passive, is an active process where cells gain bone-like traits. Understanding this cellular switch is key to developing new treatments for cardiovascular calcification.

Keywords:

cell phenotype transition endothelial cell valve interstitial cell valvular calcification vascular calcification vascular smooth muscle cell

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Published on: November 20, 2017

Area of Science:

Cardiovascular Biology
Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Regenerative Medicine

Background:

Cardiovascular calcification is an active biological process, not merely degenerative.
Vascular calcification is common in aging and diseases like atherosclerosis and diabetes.
Endothelial, smooth muscle, and fibroblast-like cells in vessels and valves contribute to calcification.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the phenotypic switching of vascular cells in calcification.
To explore the mechanisms driving vascular cell transitions towards osteoblast-like characteristics.
To address the unknown mechanisms of early cell transitions in vascular calcification.

Main Methods:

Review of current literature on cellular and molecular biology techniques.
Analysis of research on phenotypic switching in vascular cells.
Summary of known information on osteogenic gene expression and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation.

Main Results:

Vascular cells acquire osteoblast-like characteristics, sharing transcriptional programs with MSCs differentiating into osteoblasts.
The precise mechanisms driving these early cell transitions remain unclear.
Two potential pathways exist: direct upregulation of osteogenic genes or de-differentiation to an MSC-like state followed by re-differentiation.

Conclusions:

Further research into the mechanisms of vascular cell phenotypic switching is crucial.
Understanding these transitions can advance preventative and regenerative medicine strategies.
This review summarizes current knowledge on vascular endothelial, smooth muscle, and valvular cell switching.