Hisashi Sawada *, Hong S. Lu , and Alan Daugherty

This editorial refers to ‘ANXA1 in smooth muscle cells protects against acute aortic dissection’ by C. Zhou et al.,pp. 1564–1582.
Aortic dissection (AD) is a serious vascular disease characterized by a tearing of the aortic wall. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of the aortic wall, and SMC phenotypic switching has been identified as a key mechanism of AD formation.1,2 In a recent issue of Cardiovascular Research,3 Zhou et al. reported the contribution of annexin A1 (ANXA1) to AD development associated with phenotypic switching of aortic SMCs (Figure 1).