FIGURE 5.

Inflammatory response in the aortic wall regulated by vSMC and affecting vSMC functions. During AA and AD progression, inflammatory cells infiltrate into the aortic wall. These inflammatory cells, together with vSMC, produce chemokines and interleukins, which subsequently activate various processes in the tunica media. vSMC start producing MMP, in turn causing ECM degradation. vSMC apoptosis is induced and gene expression in vSMC is modulated. In contrast, infiltration of regulatory T cells has a protective effect by inhibiting vSMC apoptosis and ECM degradation. Abbreviations: AA, aortic aneurysm; AD, aortic dissection; ECM, extracellular matrix; MCP‐1, monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1; MMP, matrix metalloprotease; NKT cell, natural killer T cell; vSMC, vascular smooth muscle cell. Elements were modified from Servier Medical Art, licensed under a Creative Common Attribution 3.0 Generic License. https://smart.servier.com/; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/