Defective autophagy in vascular smooth muscle cells increases passive stiffness of the mouse aortic vessel wall

• Published in: Pflügers Archiv Vol. 472; no. 8; pp. 1031 - 1040
• Main Authors: De Munck, Dorien G., Leloup, Arthur J.A., De Meyer, Guido R. Y., Martinet, Wim, Fransen, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aging; Aorta; Autophagy; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Calcium-binding protein; Cardiovascular diseases; Cell Biology; Compliance; Elastin; Endothelial cells; Gene deletion; Human Physiology; Mechanical properties; Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Disease; Molecular Medicine; Neurosciences; Nitric oxide; Phagocytosis; Receptors; S100A4 protein; Smooth muscle; Vascular smooth muscle cell; Arterial stiffness; Autophagy; Mouse aorta

Aging and associated progressive arterial stiffening are both important predictors for the development of cardiovascular diseases. Recent evidence showed that autophagy, a catabolic cellular mechanism responsible for nutrient recycling, plays a major role in the physiology of vascular cells such as...