Phenotypic transformation of
pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is a key factor in pulmonary
vascular remodeling. Inhibiting or reversing phenotypic transformation can inhibit pulmonary
vascular remodeling and control the progression of hypoxic
pulmonary hypertension. Recent studies have shown that
hypoxia causes intracellular
peroxide metabolism to induce
oxidative stress, induces multi-pathway
signal transduction, including those related to
autophagy,
endoplasmic reticulum stress and
mitochondrial dysfunction, and also induces
non-coding RNA regulation of
cell marker
protein expression, resulting in PASMCs phenotypic transformation. This article reviews recent
research progress on mechanisms of
hypoxia-induced phenotypic transformation of PASMCs, which may be helpful for finding targets to inhibit phenotypic transformation and to improve pulmonary
vascular remodeling diseases such as
hypoxia-induced
pulmonary hypertension.