Normally, smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are localized in the tunica media of the vasculature, where they take responsibility for vascular contraction and extracellular matrix (ECM) generation. SMCs also play a significant role in obedience and elastic rebound of the artery in response to the haemodynamic condition. However, under pathological or stressed conditions, phenotype switching from contractile to synthetic state or other cell types will occur in SMCs to positively or negatively contribute to disease progression. Various studies demonstrated that functional changes of SMCs are implicated in several cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we present the function of vascular SMCs (VSMCs) and the involved molecular mechanisms about phenotype switching, and summarize the roles of SMCs in atherosclerosis, hypertension, arterial aneurysms and myocardial infarction, hoping to obtain potential therapeutic targets against cardiovascular disease in the clinical practices.

中文翻译：

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平滑肌细胞在心血管疾病中的作用

通常，平滑肌细胞 (SMC) 位于脉管系统的中膜中，它们负责血管收缩和细胞外基质 (ECM) 的生成。SMC 在响应血液动力学条件的动脉的服从和弹性回弹方面也发挥着重要作用。然而，在病理或压力条件下，SMC 中会发生从收缩状态到合成状态或其他细胞类型的表型转换，从而对疾病进展产生积极或消极的影响。各种研究表明，SMC 的功能变化与多种心血管疾病有关。在这篇综述中，我们介绍了血管 SMCs (VSMCs) 的功能和涉及表型转换的分子机制，并总结了 SMCs 在动脉粥样硬化、高血压、