TY - JOUR
T1 - Short communication
T2 - Vascular smooth muscle cell stiffness as a mechanism for increased aortic stiffness with aging
AU - Qiu, Hongyu
AU - Zhu, Yi
AU - Sun, Zhe
AU - Trzeciakowski, Jerome P.
AU - Gansner, Meredith
AU - Depre, Christophe
AU - Resuello, Ranillo R.G.
AU - Natividad, Filipinas F.
AU - Hunter, William C.
AU - Genin, Guy M.
AU - Elson, Elliot L.
AU - Vatner, Dorothy E.
AU - Meininger, Gerald A.
AU - Vatner, Stephen F.
PY - 2010/9/3
Y1 - 2010/9/3
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - AFM
KW - aging
KW - stiffness
KW - vascular smooth muscle cell
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U2 - 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.110.221846
DO - 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.110.221846
M3 - Article
C2 - 20634486
AN - SCOPUS:77957043052
SN - 0009-7330
VL - 107
SP - 615
EP - 619
JO - Circulation Research
JF - Circulation Research
IS - 5
ER -