Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41369401›Full record

ReviewCells2025

Bridging the Translational Gap: Rethinking Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity in Atherosclerosis Through Human-Relevant In Vitro Models.

Liliana Som, Nicola Smart

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cells, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Liliana SomDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine, BHF Oxford Centre of Research Excellence, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7TY, UK.
Nicola SmartDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine, BHF Oxford Centre of Research Excellence, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7TY, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3501-7254

Funding

British Heart Foundation FS/4yPhD/F/22/34177
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) plasticity is increasingly recognised as a critical driver of atherosclerosis progression, most mechanistic insights derive from murine models that fail to fully capture the diversity and complexity of human SMC phenotypes. This creates a translational gap in our understanding of disease-relevant cell states. Human single-cell and genetic studies reveal a broader spectrum of SMC phenotypes, many of which remain uncaptured by existing experimental models. In this review, we argue that better human in vitro models, when critically assessed and integrated with omics data from human disease, can help bridge this gap. We examine how different in vitro systems, from simple monocultures to advanced co-culture and 3D platforms, can model human SMC plasticity, and how benchmarking against human single-cell and multi-omics data can guide model selection, validation, and refinement.

Indexed as

AtherosclerosisCell PlasticityModels, BiologicalMuscle, Smooth, VascularMyocytes, Smooth MuscleTranslational Research, BiomedicalAnimalsHumanshuman-relevantin vitro modellingomicsphenotypic plasticitysmooth muscle cell

Identifiers

PMID41369401
PMCPMC12691536

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.