Pigmentation Affects Elastic Fiber Patterning and Biomechanical Behavior of the Murine Aortic Valve

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

卷:8

Joshua D. Hutcheson¹  Lidia Kos²  Sana Nasim³  Rosemeire M. Kanashiro-Takeuchi⁴  Popular Pandey⁵  Jin He⁵ 

[1] Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States;

[2] Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States;

[3] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States;

[4] Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Leonard M Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States;

[5] Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States;

关键词: atomic force microscopy;    echocardiography;    pigment;    extracellular matrix;    elastin;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcvm.2021.754560

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The aortic valve (AoV) maintains unidirectional blood distribution from the left ventricle of the heart to the aorta for systemic circulation. The AoV leaflets rely on a precise extracellular matrix microarchitecture of collagen, elastin, and proteoglycans for appropriate biomechanical performance. We have previously demonstrated a relationship between the presence of pigment in the mouse AoV with elastic fiber patterning using multiphoton imaging. Here, we extended those findings using wholemount confocal microscopy revealing that elastic fibers were diminished in the AoV of hypopigmented mice (KitWv and albino) and were disorganized in the AoV of K5-Edn3 transgenic hyperpigmented mice when compared to wild type C57BL/6J mice. We further used atomic force microscopy to measure stiffness differences in the wholemount AoV leaflets of mice with different levels of pigmentation. We show that AoV leaflets of K5-Edn3 had overall higher stiffness (4.42 ± 0.35 kPa) when compared to those from KitWv (2.22 ± 0.21 kPa), albino (2.45 ± 0.16 kPa), and C57BL/6J (3.0 ± 0.16 kPa) mice. Despite the striking elastic fiber phenotype and noted stiffness differences, adult mutant mice were found to have no overt cardiac differences as measured by echocardiography. Our results indicate that pigmentation, but not melanocytes, is required for proper elastic fiber organization in the mouse AoV and dictates its biomechanical properties.

【 授权许可】

Unknown