Journal
MICROCIRCULATION
Volume 21, Issue 3, Pages 201-207Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/micc.12101
Keywords
aortic stiffness; focal adhesions; vascular smooth muscle cells; biomechanics
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Funding
- NHLBI [P01 086655]
- Boston University Evans Center Aortic Stiffness ARC
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The operation of the cardiovascular system in health and disease is inherently mechanical. Clinically, aortic stiffness has proven to be of critical importance as an early biomarker for subsequent cardiovascular disease; however, the mechanisms involved in aortic stiffening are still unclear. The etiology of aortic stiffening with age has been thought to primarily involve changes in extracellular matrix protein composition and quantity, but recent studies suggest a significant involvement of the differentiated contractile vascular smooth muscle cells in the vessel wall. Here, we provide an overview of vascular physiology and biomechanics at different spatial scales. The processes involved in aortic stiffening are examined with particular attention given to recent discoveries regarding the role of vascular smooth muscle.
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