title: Small Artery Elastin Distribution and Architecture-Focus on Three Dimensional Organization.
abstract: The distribution of ECM proteins within the walls of resistance vessels is complex both in variety of proteins and structural arrangement. In particular, elastin exists as discrete fibers varying in orientation across the adventitia and media as well as often resembling a sheet-like structure in the case of the IEL. Adding to the complexity is the tissue heterogeneity that exists in these structural arrangements. For example, small intracranial cerebral arteries lack adventitial elastin while similar sized arteries from skeletal muscle and intestinal mesentery exhibit a complex adventitial network of elastin fibers. With regard to the IEL, several vascular beds exhibit an elastin sheet with punctate holes/fenestrae while in others the IEL is discontinuous and fibrous in appearance. Importantly, these structural patterns likely sub-serve specific functional properties, including mechanosensing, control of external forces, mechanical properties of the vascular wall, cellular positioning, and communication between cells. Of further significance, these processes are altered in vascular disorders such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus where there is modification of ECM. This brief report focuses on the three-dimensional wall structure of small arteries and considers possible implications with regard to mechanosensing under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nourian
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|Department of Physics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: I-Lin
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martinez-Lemus
authors.affiliation: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Meininger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D004549:Elastin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D014655:Vascular Resistance
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D004549:Elastin
keywords: adventitia; artery wall; elastin; extracellular matrix proteins; internal elastic lamina