Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity and Autophagy in Dissecting Aortic Aneurysms

Objective— Recent studies suggested the occurrence of phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during the development of aortic aneurysm (AA). However, lineage-tracing studies are still lacking, and the behavior of VSMCs during the formation of dissecting AA is poorly understood. Approach and Results— We used multicolor lineage tracing of VSMCs to track their fate after injury in murine models of Ang II (angiotensin...