{
  "abstract": "The contribution of pre-existing smooth muscle cell (SMC) states to vascular lesions remains unresolved. Here we identify a rare, progenitor-like Primed SMC compartment before lesion formation in sham-operated carotid arteries and across Myh11-lineage marked mouse aortic datasets, with a Primed-like counterpart in non-diseased human aorta. Primed SMCs retain SMC identity while combining attenuated contractile programmes with conserved niche-associated (Cd34, Fst, Tnfrsf11b) and matricellular (Vcam1, Thbs1, Timp1) cores, overlaid by vessel-specific developmental signatures (Nrn1, Gdf10, Scx). After carotid ligation and during high-fat diet-induced atherosclerosis in Ldlr-/- and Apoe-/- mice, disease-associated Primed, cycling and fibrochondrocyte populations preferentially map to baseline Primed SMCs, whereas contractile SMCs are depleted as inferred feeder sources. Concordant trajectory, graph-based and cross-dataset analyses support a model in which this pre-existing compartment is the dominant inferred source of SMC-derived lesional cellularity. These findings favour expansion and diversification of the Primed compartment over widespread phenotypic switching of contractile SMCs.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Dublin City University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "S. Wani"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Kitching"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Aboulhassanzadeh"
    },
    {
      "name": "T.-S. Lungu"
    },
    {
      "name": "I. Kilicgun"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Ulibarri"
    },
    {
      "name": "W. Liu"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Floudas"
    },
    {
      "name": "E. M. Redmond"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "P. A. Cahill"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5s45ee0h9et5e.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.06.28.735042",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.28.735042v7.full",
  "id": "5s45ee0h9et5e",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.28.735042v7",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "cell biology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2403|Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Diseases"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7166528842",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.28.735042v7.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-06-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5s45ee0h9et5e.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:46Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.06.28.735042",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.28.735042v7"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:cell biology",
      "subfield": "cell-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A rare pre-existing progenitor-like Primed SMC compartment is the dominant inferred source of SMC-derived cellularity in vascular injury and atherosclerosis",
  "title_text": "A rare pre-existing progenitor-like Primed SMC compartment is the dominant inferred source of SMC-derived cellularity in vascular injury and atherosclerosis",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5s45ee0h9et5e",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}