Diverse Contributions From the Initial Discovery of Mechanisms of Angiotensin II–Induced Oxidation in Smooth Muscle Cells

Abstract

Angiotensin II Stimulates NADH and NADPH Oxidase Activity in Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Griendling et al Circ Res. 1994;74:1141–1148. This article reported that effects of angiotensin II on hypertrophy in vascular smooth muscle cells were attributable to activation of NADPH oxidases. This finding has been an initial stimulant to increasing understanding that angiotensin II–induced oxidative process contributes to many characteristics of vascular smooth muscle cell responses. The article “Angiotensin II Stimulates NADH and NADPH Oxidase Activity in Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells” by Griendling et al1 has the distinction of being in the top echelon of highly cited publications in Circulation Research . In addition to the high number of total citations (1762 as of October 2013), equally impressive is its continuous impact on contemporary literature since its publication. To place this number of citations in context, among the 22 145 articles published in 1994, which were categorized under Cardiovascular System and Cardiology in the ISI Web of Science, only 4 have been cited >1000 times. The Griendling et al article is ranked the top and has been cited 35% more frequently than the second most cited article. Moreover, compared with the 264 articles published in 1994 in Circulation Research , the citation frequency of Griendling et al article is far greater than the mean (Figure 1). The consistently high citation rate has been attributed to the enduring relevance of intracellular signaling mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) biology and also that the article provided valuable information on angiotensin II (AngII)-induced signaling pathways. It is worth noting that this article has had an impact on diverse research …