P4.03 APOPTOSIS IN THE MEDIA OF THE AORTIC WALL AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH AORTIC VALVE MORPHOLOGY IN AORTIC DILATATION

DOI

10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.122How to use a DOI?

Abstract

Background: The aortic valve is normally tricuspid but may vary in that it can be made up of 1, 2 or 4 leaflets with each of these often associated with aortopathy, most commonly aortic dilatation. In patients with a bicuspid valve this association has been explained in part by molecular changes taking place in the smooth muscle cells of the aortic media resulting in their apoptosis.

Objectives: To investigate changes in apoptosis and their genetic regulators that occur in the aortic media of patients with aortic dilatation and whether this differs with different aortic valve configurations.

Methods: Aortic wall samples were collected from patients with unicuspid, bicuspid, tricuspid and quadricuspid aortic valve morphology. Samples underwent homogenisation and were then analysed for a number of apoptotic markers and their genetic regulators using western blot and rt-PCR.

Results: Cleaved caspase 3 expression is increased in the aortic media of both the unicuspid (1.1 μm²) and bicuspid (0.42 μm²) aortic valve samples as compared to the tricuspid (0.060 μm²) sample. Relative gene expression of P53:BCL-X_L >1 in the aortic media of unicuspid and bicuspid aortic valves whilst p53:BCL-X_L<1 in the media of the tricuspid sample.

Conclusion: Cleaved caspase 3 assay demonstrates that smooth muscle cell apoptosis is increased in the dilated aortic media of unicuspid and bicuspid aortic valves as compared to that of the tricuspid aortic valve. This increase in apoptosis is mediated by an increase in the ratio of proapoptotic p53 to antiapoptotic BCL-X_L and may explain the association between abnormal valve morphology and aortic dilatation.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

TY  - JOUR
AU  - H. Edwards
AU  - J. Dargan
AU  - L. Elliot
AU  - A. Modi
AU  - S. Ohri
AU  - P. Townsend
PY  - 2013
DA  - 2013/11/11
TI  - P4.03 APOPTOSIS IN THE MEDIA OF THE AORTIC WALL AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH AORTIC VALVE MORPHOLOGY IN AORTIC DILATATION
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 136
EP  - 136
VL  - 7
IS  - 3-4
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.122
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2013.10.122
ID  - Edwards2013
ER  -