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Einleitung: Um junge Medizinstudierende auf die stetig wachsenden Anforderungen eines Arztes klinisch, wissenschaftlich sowie psycho-sozial allumfassend und kompetent besser vorzubereiten, sollten Universitäten eine enge, persönliche Erfahrungs- und Wissensvermittlung ermöglichen. Strukturierte Mentorenprogramme als Lösungsmodell klinische Aufgabenfelder früher in die vorklinische Lehre einfließen zu lassen, um somit eine begleitete Priorisierung des breiten, theoretisch geprägten universitären Lehrstoffes zu erleichtern, stellen einen vielversprechenden Ansatzpunkt dar.
Hier berichten wir über die Erfahrungen und Ergebnisse des vorklinischen Mentorenprogrammes der Universität Bonn, welches zum Wintersemester 12/13 eingeführt wurde.
Projektbeschreibung: Das Programm zeichnet sich durch das Konzept des peer-to-peer-Teachings in den Semestern der Vorklinik im Rahmen eines humanmedizinischen Regelstudienganges aus. In regelmäßigen, freiwilligen Kurstreffen mit verschiedenen klinischen Fallbeispielen soll Studierenden die Möglichkeit geboten werden, erworbene Kenntnisse aus den curricularen Grundlagenfächern eigenständig anzuwenden, sowie einen Kontakt mit einem persönlichen Ansprechpartner für Ratschläge und Hilfestellung zu gewährleisten. Auf diese Weise wird ein ungezwungener Erfahrungsaustausch ermöglicht, der den Studierenden eine Motivations- und Lernhilfe bietet, insbesondere für die mündliche Physikumsprüfung sowie für weitere Prüfungen des Studiums.
Ergebnisse: Über die letzten drei Jahre konnte die Teilnehmerzahl und das Interesse am Programm stetig gesteigert werden. Die Auswertung der gesammelten Evaluationen bestätigt eine sehr gute Kommunikation zwischen Tutor und Studierenden (über 80%), sowie durchweg gute bis sehr gute Qualität und Nützlichkeit der fachlichen, als auch sonstigen Tipps der Mentoren. Eine abschließende Bewertung der Erwartungen an das Mentorenprogramm wurde insgesamt auf einer Schulnotenskala stets als gut bis sehr gut bewertet (Wintersemester: sehr gut 64.8±5.0%, gut 35.2±5.0%, Sommersemester: sehr gut 83.9±7.5%, gut 16.1±7.5%)
Zusammenfassung: Zusammenfassend hat sich gezeigt, dass sich das Mentorenprogramm positiv auf die Entwicklung, Ausbildung und Zufriedenheit der Studienanfänger in der Bonner Vorklinik auswirkt.
Introduction: To better prepare young medical students in a thorough and competent manner for the ever increasing clinical, scientific, as well as psychosocial requirements, universities should enable a close, personal transfer of experience and knowledge. Structured mentoring programs are a promising approach to incorporate clinical subjects earlier into the preclinical training. Such a mentoring program facilitates the prioritization of concepts from a broad, theory-heavy syllabus.
Here we report the experiences and results of the preclinical mentoring program of Bonn University, which was introduced in the winter semester of 2012/2013.
Project desciption: The program is characterized by the concept of peer-to-peer teaching during the preclinical semesters of medical school. Regular, voluntary course meetings with different clinical case examples provide students the opportunity to apply knowledge acquired from the basic science curricula; furthermore, a personal contact for advice and support is ensured. Thus, an informal exchange of experiences is made possible, which provides to the students motivational and learning aids, in particular for the oral examination at the end of the premedical semesters as well as for other examinations during medical school.
Results: Over the course of the preceding three years the number of participants and the interest in the program grew steadily. The analysis of collected evaluations confirms very good communication between mentors and students (>80%), as well as consistently good to very good quality and usefulness in terms of the mentors’ subject-specific and other advice. The overall final evaluation of the mentoring program was always good to very good (winter semester: very good 64.8±5.0%, good 35.2±5.0%, summer semester: very good 83.9±7.5%, good 16.1±7.5%)
Summary: In summary, it has been shown that the mentoring program had a positive impact on the development, education and satisfaction of students beginning their preclinical semesters at Bonn University.
The aim of this paper is to present the results of an empirical analysis of the use of non-alphabetic graphic signs (e.g. asterisks, slashes, plus signs etc.) in the context of repairs in Russian and German informal electronic communication. The data for the analysis were taken from the “Mobile Communication Database MoCoDa” (http://mocoda.spracheinteraktion.de/), which contains Russian and German private electronic communication via SMS, WhatsApp and other short message services, and the “Dortmunder Chat-Korpus” (http://www.chatkorpus.tu-dortmund.de/korpora.html). This paper describes the functions of various graphic resources in the context of repairs in both data collections and compares the occurrences of these functions in current Russian and German computer-mediated communication. It concludes that particular signs in both data sets share the same subset of functions, but they differ in terms of how frequently these resources occur in each form of communication.
Background: Since 2009, IPF patients across Europe are recruited into the eurIPFreg, providing epidemiological data and biomaterials for translational research.
Methods: The registry data are based on patient and physician baseline and follow-up questionnaires, comprising 1700 parameters. The mid- to long-term objectives of the registry are to provide clues for a better understanding of IPF phenotype sub-clusters, triggering factors and aggravating conditions, regional and environmental characteristics, and of disease behavior and management.
Results: This paper describes baseline data of 525 IPF subjects recruited from 11/2009 until 10/2016. IPF patients had a mean age of 68.1 years, and seeked medical advice due to insidious dyspnea (90.1%), fatigue (69.2%), and dry coughing (53.2%). A surgical lung biopsy was performed in 32% in 2009, but in only 8% of the cases in 2016, possibly due to increased numbers of cryobiopsy. At the time of inclusion in the eurIPFreg, FVC was 68.4% ± 22.6% of predicted value, DLco ranged at 42.1% ± 17.8% of predicted value (mean value ± SD). Signs of pulmonary hypertension were found in 16.8%. Steroids, immunosuppressants and N-Acetylcysteine declined since 2009, and were replaced by antifibrotics, under which patients showed improved survival (p = 0.001).
Conclusions: Our data provide important insights into baseline characteristics, diagnostic and management changes as well as outcome data in European IPF patients over time.
Trial registration: The eurIPFreg and eurIPFbank are listed in ClinicalTrials.gov(NCT02951416).
Background: Bidirectional promoters (BPs) are prevalent in eukaryotic genomes. However, it is poorly understood how the cell integrates different epigenomic information, such as transcription factor (TF) binding and chromatin marks, to drive gene expression at BPs. Single-cell sequencing technologies are revolutionizing the field of genome biology. Therefore, this study focuses on the integration of single-cell RNA-seq data with bulk ChIP-seq and other epigenetics data, for which single-cell technologies are not yet established, in the context of BPs.
Results: We performed integrative analyses of novel human single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data with bulk ChIP-seq and other epigenetics data. scRNA-seq data revealed distinct transcription states of BPs that were previously not recognized. We find associations between these transcription states to distinct patterns in structural gene features, DNA accessibility, histone modification, DNA methylation and TF binding profiles.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that a complex interplay of all of these elements is required to achieve BP-specific transcriptional output in this specialized promoter configuration. Further, our study implies that novel statistical methods can be developed to deconvolute masked subpopulations of cells measured with different bulk epigenomic assays using scRNA-seq data.
This commentary is an introduction for students to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and its Student Advisory Council (SAC). As young academics face challenges while trying to develop their careers, SETAC and the SAC help facilitate student involvement in the various communities within the society that can help to develop the students’ careers within the environmental sciences [e.g. the German Language Branch (GLB)]. This piece would also like to emphasize and pay homage to the continual cooperation between the SAC and the ESEU, which provides a scientific platform to communicate internationally and beyond the borders of SETAC, as well as offer heartfelt congratulations from the SAC to the GLB for their "20 Years SETAC GLB" and deep gratitude for their strong advocacy and support of the SAC.
Background and Objectives: Valuation of life (VOL) represents a construct capturing individuals’ active attachment to their life. The majority of studies on VOL were conducted in North America and Europe where personal autonomy and independence are highly valued, leaving open the question about the relevance of this construct in interdependence-oriented cultures. Using a framework of cross-cultural and life-span theories, the present study compared levels and predictors of VOL between the young-old and old-old individuals from Germany and Japan.
Research Design and Methods: Two hundred fifty-seven Germans and 248 Japanese, matched by age, gender, education, and IADL, answered a 5-item VOL scale and shared information on sociodemographic, social, and health resources.
Results: Germans’ VOL levels were higher than in Japanese participants. Both culture- and age-moderated predictions of VOL: education was significant only in the young-old Japanese, and close social partners mattered in the old-old, not in the young-old. Health determined VOL irrespective of culture and age.
Discussion and Implications: The findings suggest that cultural values and aging processes should be considered to better understand how individuals value their life and to help older adults to feel that his/her life is meaningful and worth living.
Experimental evidence supports that cortical oscillations represent multiscale temporal modulations existent in natural stimuli, yet little is known about the processing of these multiple timescales at a neuronal level. Here, using extracellular recordings from the auditory cortex (AC) of awake bats (Carollia perspicillata), we show the existence of three neuronal types which represent different levels of the temporal structure of conspecific vocalizations, and therefore constitute direct evidence of multiscale temporal processing of naturalistic stimuli by neurons in the AC. These neuronal subpopulations synchronize differently to local-field potentials, particularly in theta- and high frequency bands, and are informative to a different degree in terms of their spike rate. Interestingly, we also observed that both low and high frequency cortical oscillations can be highly informative about the listened calls. Our results suggest that multiscale neuronal processing allows for the precise and non-redundant representation of natural vocalizations in the AC.
Purpose: When squamous cell carcinoma of the buccal mucosa (BSCC) extends surrounding anatomical sites such as gingiva, retromolar triangle, or hard palate, it might be challenging to ensure adequate tumor coverage by sole interstitial brachytherapy due to the complexity of catheter implantation. By combining interstitial catheters with an enoral placed, individually assembled “oral spacer plus embedded catheters” device (hybrid of intracavitary-interstitial brachytherapy), it should be easier to deliver the necessary tumoricidal dose to irregular-shaped tumor volumes (clinical target volume – CTV) with improved conformity. The purpose of this analysis was to compare the dose distribution created by the hybrid of intracavitary-interstitial brachytherapy (HBT) with the dose distribution of an interstitial catheter only-approach, based on the interstitial catheters used for HBT (ISBT-only) by evaluating respective treatment plans (HBT plan vs. ISBT-only plan) for the treatment of early stage BSCC.
Material and methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for patients with localized BSCC treated between April 2013 and October 2017. All patients received sole HBT without additional external beam radiation therapy or planned neck dissection. Dosimetric parameters taken into account for comparison between actual HBT and virtual ISBT-only were CTV D90, CTV V100, CTV V150, CTV V200, mandible D2cc, and mucosal surface D2cc.
Results: Dosimetrically, HBT showed a trend toward better CTV D90 compared to ISBT-only. In addition, HBT demonstrated statistically better CTV V100 coverage compared to ISBT-only. There was no statistically significant difference with respect to CTV V150, CTV V200, and mucosal surface D2cc, while a trend was seen in better mandible D0.1cc between HBT and ISBT-only.
Conclusions: The HBT approach appears to enable improved dose coverage of irregular-shaped enoral tumor volumes compared to ISBT-only for patients with early stage BSCC.
Cryo-EM structures of KdpFABC suggest a K+ transport mechanism via two inter-subunit half-channels
(2018)
P-type ATPases ubiquitously pump cations across biological membranes to maintain vital ion gradients. Among those, the chimeric K+ uptake system KdpFABC is unique. While ATP hydrolysis is accomplished by the P-type ATPase subunit KdpB, K+ has been assumed to be transported by the channel-like subunit KdpA. A first crystal structure uncovered its overall topology, suggesting such a spatial separation of energizing and transporting units. Here, we report two cryo-EM structures of the 157 kDa, asymmetric KdpFABC complex at 3.7 Å and 4.0 Å resolution in an E1 and an E2 state, respectively. Unexpectedly, the structures suggest a translocation pathway through two half-channels along KdpA and KdpB, uniting the alternating-access mechanism of actively pumping P-type ATPases with the high affinity and selectivity of K+ channels. This way, KdpFABC would function as a true chimeric complex, synergizing the best features of otherwise separately evolved transport mechanisms.
"Die Goethe-Universität ist eine weltoffene Werkstatt der Zukunft mitten in Europa. 1914 von BürgerInnen für BürgerInnen gegründet, hat sie seit 2008 als autonome Stiftungsuniversität an diese Tradition wieder angeknüpft. Ihrer wechselvollen Geschichte kritisch verpflichtet, ist sie geleitet von den Ideen der Europäischen Aufklärung, der Demokratie und der Rechtsstaatlichkeit und wendet sich gegen Rassismus, Nationalismus und Antisemitismus. Die Goethe-Universität ist ein Ort argumentativer Auseinandersetzung; Forschung und Lehre stehen in gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung."
Dieses Leitbild strahlt an einem Freitagabend im Januar 2018 zwei Stunden lang über einem voll besetzten, unruhigen Hörsaal. Der groß an die Wand projizierte Text richtet sich an das Publikum einer Veranstaltung der "Frankfurter Bürgeruniversität" mit dem Titel "Diskurskultur im Zwielicht – Wie viel Meinungsfreiheit verträgt die Uni?" Die Atmosphäre ist für eine öffentliche Abendveranstaltung ungewöhnlich angespannt: Menschen mit unterschiedlichen politischen Einstellungen sitzen dicht beieinander, ein paar Burschenschaftler mit Schärpe nehmen die Mitte des Saales ein, es gibt Gerüchte, die AfD habe zu der Veranstaltung mobilisiert. ...
Bislang existieren kaum (musik-)psychologische Studien, welche die gesundheitliche Situation von Berufssänger/innen adressieren. Mit N = 313 Teilnehmenden handelt es sich bei der hier vorgestellten Forschungsarbeit um eine der bislang größten Studien, in welcher gesundheitspsychologische Aspekte bei Profisänger/innen untersucht wurden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Sänger/innen trotz hoher beruflicher Belastungen in 16 von 27 Burnout-Kennwerten niedrigere Werte aufweisen als die Personen der repräsentativen Vergleichsstichprobe. Bei den elf anderen Burnout-Kennwerten zeigte sich kein statistisch signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den beiden Gruppen. Mit den in den Regressionsanalysen berücksichtigten Prädiktoren lassen sich bis zu 40 Prozent des Kriteriums Burnout erklären. Als aussagekräftigste Prädiktoren konnten die Variablen Erholungskompetenz, Optimismus und Pessimismus identifiziert werden. Perfektionismus als unter Musiker/innen häufig stark ausgeprägte Persönlichkeitseigenschaft trug wider Erwarten kaum zur Vorhersage der Burnout-Ausprägungen der Berufssänger/innen bei. Für präventive und rehabilitative Maßnahmen mit Profisänger/innen lässt sich aus den Befunden mit Blick auf eine (potenzielle) Burnout-Erkrankung die Empfehlung ableiten, sich eher auf die Ressourcen der Musiker/innen (Erholungskompetenz, Optimismus) zu konzentrieren und weniger auf deren scheinbare Defizite (Perfektionismus).
Lehre im Bewegungsfeld Kämpfen an den sportwissenschaftlichen Hochschuleinrichtungen in Deutschland
(2018)
Obwohl sich verschiedene Formen des Kämpfens in zahlreichen Lehrplänen der Bundesländer wiederfinden und ein entsprechender Qualifizierungsbedarf angehender Lehrkräfte gefordert wird, liegen bislang kaum Daten zur Lehre im Bewegungsfeld Kämpfen an sportwissenschaftlichen Hochschuleinrichtungen vor. Im Frühjahr 2017 wurden deutschlandweit Personen mit lehrender oder koordinierender Tätigkeit im Bewegungsfeld Kämpfen zu grundlegenden Daten ihrer Lehrveranstaltung (u. a. Zielgruppe, Umfang, Verbindlichkeit), zur didaktisch-methodischen Gestaltung (u. a. Ziele, Inhalte, Methoden, Prüfungen) sowie zu ihrem Beschäftigungsverhältnis befragt. An 14 von 60 Standorten konnte kein entsprechendes Lehrangebot identifiziert werden. Die erfassten 54 Lehrangebote (beschrieben von 48 Personen aus 31 Einrichtungen) sind bezüglich der organisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen relativ gut vergleichbar: Etwa 83 % umfassen zwei SWS und ca. 74 % sind Wahlpflichtveranstaltungen. Heterogenität herrscht u. a. hinsichtlich der Lernziele sowie der eingesetzten Lehr-Lernformen. Die Bestandserhebung bietet eine fachbezogene Diskussionsgrundlage für die Ausgestaltung von Theorie und Praxis des Bewegungsfelds Kämpfen.
NMR and chromatography methods combined with mass spectrometry are the most important analytical techniques employed for plant metabolomics screening. Metabolomic analysis integrated to transcriptome screening add an important extra dimension to the information flow from DNA to RNA to protein. The most useful NMR experiment in metabolomics analysis is the proton spectra due the high receptivity of 1H and important structural information, through proton–proton scalar coupling. Routinely, databases have been used in identification of primary metabolites, however, there is currently no comparable data for identification of secondary metabolites, mainly, due to signal overlap in normal 1H NMR spectra and natural variation of plant. Related to spectra overlap, alternatively, better resolution can be find using 1H pure shift and 2D NMR pulse sequence in complex samples due to spreading the resonances in a second dimension. Thus, in data brief we provide a catalogue of metabolites and expression levels of genes identified in soy leaves and roots under flooding stress.
The present study aims at analyzing the role of nativeness, the amount of input in L1 acquisition and the multilingual competence in the performance of Italian–German bilingual speakers. We compare novel data from the performance of adult L2 learners (L1: Italian; late L2: German) and that of heritage speakers (heritage language: Italian; majority language: German) to previous data from monolingual speakers of Italian. The comparison deals with the produced word order at the syntax-discourse interface in sentences containing New Information Subjects in answers to questions that prompt the identification of the clausal subject. Overall, adult L2 speakers and heritage speakers perform alike but crucially differently from Italian monolinguals. These data reveal that multilingual proficiency determines an increased variety in the adopted answering strategies; in particular, the German-like strategy is active in Italian. Nativeness alone is thus no guarantee for a homogeneous performance across groups, nor do we find similar patterns of performance in speakers who grew up as monolinguals. Data also show heritage speakers’ sensitivity to verb classes, with answering strategies varying in accordance with the verb argument structure. Participants’ productions reveal an interesting relation in sentences with transitive verbs between subject position (pre-/postverbal) and object form (lexical DP/clitic pronoun).
Formation and segregation of cell lineages forming the heart have been studied extensively but the underlying gene regulatory networks and epigenetic changes driving cell fate transitions during early cardiogenesis are still only partially understood. Here, we comprehensively characterize mouse cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) marked by Nkx2-5 and Isl1 expression from E7.5 to E9.5 using single-cell RNA sequencing and transposase-accessible chromatin profiling (ATAC-seq). By leveraging on cell-to-cell transcriptome and chromatin accessibility heterogeneity, we identify different previously unknown cardiac subpopulations. Reconstruction of developmental trajectories reveal that multipotent Isl1+ CPC pass through an attractor state before separating into different developmental branches, whereas extended expression of Nkx2-5 commits CPC to an unidirectional cardiomyocyte fate. Furthermore, we show that CPC fate transitions are associated with distinct open chromatin states critically depending on Isl1 and Nkx2-5. Our data provide a model of transcriptional and epigenetic regulations during cardiac progenitor cell fate decisions at single-cell resolution.
GTP cyclohydrolase (GCH1) governs de novo synthesis of the enzyme cofactor, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), which is essential for biogenic amine production, bioactive lipid metabolism and redox coupling of nitric oxide synthases. Overproduction of BH4 via upregulation of GCH1 in sensory neurons is associated with nociceptive hypersensitivity in rodents, and neuron‐specific GCH1 deletion normalizes nociception. The translational relevance is revealed by protective polymorphisms of GCH1 in humans, which are associated with a reduced chronic pain. Because myeloid cells constitute a major non‐neuronal source of BH4 that may contribute to BH4‐dependent phenotypes, we studied here the contribution of myeloid‐derived BH4 to pain and itch in lysozyme M Cre‐mediated GCH1 knockout (LysM‐GCH1−/−) and overexpressing mice (LysM‐GCH1‐HA). Unexpectedly, knockout or overexpression in myeloid cells had no effect on nociceptive behaviour, but LysM‐driven GCH1 knockout reduced, and its overexpression increased the scratching response in Compound 48/80 and hydroxychloroquine‐evoked itch models, which involve histamine and non‐histamine dependent signalling pathways. Mechanistically, GCH1 overexpression increased BH4, nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide, and these changes were associated with increased release of histamine and serotonin and degranulation of mast cells. LysM‐driven GCH1 knockout had opposite effects, and pharmacologic inhibition of GCH1 provided even stronger itch suppression. Inversely, intradermal BH4 provoked scratching behaviour in vivo and BH4 evoked an influx of calcium in sensory neurons. Together, these loss‐ and gain‐of‐function experiments suggest that itch in mice is contributed by BH4 release plus BH4‐driven mediator release from myeloid immune cells, which leads to activation of itch‐responsive sensory neurons.
Background: Effects of playing high stringed bow instruments on the upper body posture have not been analysed so far. The instrument-specific seating position when playing in an orchestra is compared to the habitual seating position.
Methods: Three dimensional back scans were performed in 13 professional violinists and viola players of a radio orchestra (8 f / 5 m). Trunk position in their habitual seating position and in the instrument- specific seating position imitating playing was compared. Statistical differences were calculated using Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Test with Bonferroni Holm correction.
Results: Significant differences were found between the seated position with instrument and without (p < 0.001, 0.03, 0.02 or 0.01) in the spine (trunk length, sagittal trunk decline, lumbar bending angle, maximal rotation, standard deviation rotation, lumbar lordosis), the shoulder (scapula distance, scapula rotation, scapula angle right) and pelvis distance.
Conclusions: Playing an instrument changes the static seating position by increased rotation of the spine and specific shoulder adaptations holding the instrument (left arm) and the bow (right arm), with minor effects on the pelvis. This forced position may result in chronic health effects. The method used in this study is an approach to better understand the involved muscular structures and possible resulting health damages.
Background/Aims: An estimated 80 million people worldwide are infected with viremic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Even after eradication of HCV with direct acting antivirals (DAAs), hepatic fibrosis remains a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis. Recently, we confirmed the applicability of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) as a serum biomarker for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of MFAP4 as a biomarker of liver fibrosis after HCV eliminating therapy with DAAs.
Methods: MFAP4 was measured using an immunoassay in 50 hepatitis C patients at baseline (BL), the end-of-therapy (EoT), and the 12-week follow-up visit (FU). Changes in MFAP4 from BL to FU and their association with laboratory parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), platelets, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4), and albumin were analyzed.
Results: MFAP4 serum levels were representative of the severity of hepatic fibrosis at BL and correlated well with laboratory parameters, especially APRI (Spearman correlation, R²=0.80). Laboratory parameters decreased significantly from BL to EoT. MFAP4 serum levels were found to decrease from BL and EoT to FU with high statistical significance (Wilcoxon p<0.001 for both).
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that viral eradication resulted in reduced MFAP4 serum levels, presumably representing a decrease in hepatic fibrogenesis or fibrosis. Hence, MFAP4 may be a useful tool for risk assessment in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis after eradication of the virus.
G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) expression is extensively studied in bulk cDNA, but heterogeneity and functional patterning of GPCR expression in individual vascular cells is poorly understood. Here, we perform a microfluidic-based single-cell GPCR expression analysis in primary smooth muscle cells (SMC) and endothelial cells (EC). GPCR expression is highly heterogeneous in all cell types, which is confirmed in reporter mice, on the protein level and in human cells. Inflammatory activation in murine models of sepsis or atherosclerosis results in characteristic changes in the GPCR repertoire, and we identify functionally relevant subgroups of cells that are characterized by specific GPCR patterns. We further show that dedifferentiating SMC upregulate GPCRs such as Gpr39, Gprc5b, Gprc5c or Gpr124, and that selective targeting of Gprc5b modulates their differentiation state. Taken together, single-cell profiling identifies receptors expressed on pathologically relevant subpopulations and provides a basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies in vascular diseases.