Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Qiu, Hongyu
• Zhu, Yi
• Sun, Zhe
• Trzeciakowski, Jerome P
• Gansner, Meredith
• Depre, Christophe
• Resuello, Ranillo R.G
• Natividad, Filipinas F
• Hunter, William C
• Genin, Guy M
• Elson, Elliot L
• Vatner, Dorothy E
• Meininger, Gerald A
• Vatner, Stephen F

Titel

Short Communication: Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Stiffness As a Mechanism for Increased Aortic Stiffness With Aging

Ist Teil von

• Circulation research, 2010-09, Vol.107 (5), p.615-619

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Heart Association, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2010

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• RATIONALE:Increased aortic stiffness, an important feature of many vascular diseases, eg, aging, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and aortic aneurysms, is assumed because of changes in extracellular matrix (ECM). OBJECTIVE:We tested the hypothesis that the mechanisms also involve intrinsic stiffening of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). METHODS AND RESULTS:Stiffness was measured in vitro both by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in a reconstituted tissue model, using VSMCs from aorta of young versus old male monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) (n=7/group), where aortic stiffness increases by 200% in vivo. The apparent elastic modulus was increased (P<0.05) in old (41.7±0.5 kPa) versus young (12.8±0.3 kPa) VSMCs but not after disassembly of the actin cytoskeleton with cytochalasin D. Stiffness of the VSMCs in the reconstituted tissue model was also higher (P<0.05) in old (23.3±3.0 kPa) than in young (13.7±2.4 kPa). CONCLUSIONS:These data support the novel concept, not appreciated previously, that increased vascular stiffness with aging is attributable not only to changes in ECM but also to intrinsic changes in VSMCs.