title: An ex-vivo model for evaluating bioenergetics in aortic rings.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide and it exhibits a greatly increasing incidence proportional to aging. Atherosclerosis is a chronic condition of arterial hardening resulting in restriction of oxygen delivery and blood flow to the heart. Relationships between mitochondrial DNA damage, oxidant production, and early atherogenesis have been recently established and it is likely that aspects of atherosclerotic risk are metabolic in nature. Here we present a novel method through which mitochondrial bioenergetics can be assessed from whole aorta tissue. This method does not require mitochondrial isolation or cell culture and it allows for multiple technical replicates and expedient measurement. This procedure facilitates quantitative bioenergetic analysis and can provide great utility in better understanding the link between mitochondria, metabolism, and atherogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Feeley
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA; Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Westbrook
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA; Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA; Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. Electronic address: sballing@uab.edu.
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Ballinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000378:metabolism; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Aorta; Atherosclerosis; Bioenergetics; Cardiovascular disease; Mitochondrion