Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes and is caused by a chronic inflammatory response in the coronary and carotid arteries. A new study shows that smooth muscle cells within atherosclerotic plaques can change phenotypes to become macrophage-like cells, thereby revealing the remarkable plasticity of these cells.
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Rosenfeld, M. Converting smooth muscle cells to macrophage-like cells with KLF4 in atherosclerotic plaques. Nat Med 21, 549–551 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3875
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3875
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