Vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching in vascular calcification

Vascular calcification (VC), an active, cell-mediated process of biomineralization, often poses a threat to human health and leads to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. An increasing body of evidence confirms that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and their phenotypic transformation play significant roles in VC. To add to our knowledge of VC, this review will focus on markers of osteochondrocyte-like VSMCs and explore factors regulating the transdifferentiation of VSMCs.