Increased expression of tenascin-x in thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm tissues.
Tenascin-X (TNX), which has a molecular mass of roughly 450 kDa, is the largest member of the tenascin family. Complete deficiency of TNX in humans leads to a recessive form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). TNX is expressed abundantly in a variety of tissues, especially in cardiac muscle and in perivascular stroma. Human TNX is also present in serum with an apparent molecular size of 140 kDa. In the present study, we investigated the expression levels of TNX protein in thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm tissues. The level of TNX was significantly increased in both aortic aneurysm tissues compared with that in adjacent normal tissues. Next, to compare TNX levels in serum from both patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm and patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm with levels in serum from healthy individuals, we developed a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using TNX-specific antibodies. Measurement of TNX serum concentrations in both aortic aneurysm patients and controls showed that the levels were almost the same. These results indicate that TNX expression is significantly elevated in both thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm tissues but that the increase in TNX levels in both tissues does not result in an increase in TNX serum concentration in patients with TAA or AAA.
Department of Biosignaling and Radioisotope Experiment, Center for Integrated Research in Science, Shimane University, Enya-cho, Izumo 693–8501, Japan.
Kazumi
K
Satoh
Marie
M
Tsukamoto
Masanobu
M
Shindoh
Yasunori
Y
Totsuka
Teiji
T
Oda
Ken-Ichi
K
Matsumoto
D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D001011:Aorta / Q000378:metabolism*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000378:metabolism*; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D004535:Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D019063:Tenascin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D000906:Antibodies; D019063:Tenascin; C081865:tenascin X