Altered tissue behavior of a non-aneurysmal descending thoracic aorta in the mouse model of Marfan syndrome

Aortic aneurysm is predominantly found in the ascending aorta in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). However, descending aortic disease has emerged as a problem since people are living longer because of improved medical and surgical management of the ascending aorta. Diagnostic procedures before disease onset and the mechanisms involved in the transition of normal aortic tissue to aneurysm remain unclear. We determined signs of descending aortic disease before disease onset in mice with a mutation in the fibrillin 1 gene (Fbn1 (+/C1039G)), a validated mouse model of disease susceptibility and progression of aortic aneurysm of MFS. We analyzed a tubular unfixed non-aneurysmal descending thoracic aorta from 8-month-old wild-type and Fbn1 (+/C1039G) mice by a tubular biaxial tester that works in conjunction with a two-photon nonlinear microscope. Fbn1 (+/C1039G) mouse aorta was more compliant in the circumferential direction. Two-photon imaging showed defective organization of adventitial collagen fibers in the pressurized aortas of Fbn1 (+/C1039G) mice. Moreover, disruption in the elastic lamina was noted in the absence of aneurysms in pressurized aortas but not unpressurized aortas of Fbn1 (+/C1039G) mice. At the molecular level, this altered tissue behavior in non-aneurysmal descending aortas of Fbn1 (+/C1039G) mice was accompanied by an increasing trend of canonical but not noncanonical, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) signaling. Finally, assays of in vitro collagen lattice formation in mouse wild-type and TGF beta 1-deficient embryonic fibroblasts indicate that TGF beta 1 can regulate collagen organization. The ability to reveal the presence of altered biomechanics and microstructure coupled with subtle changes in TGF beta signaling provides a novel surrogate measure of tissue susceptibility to aneurysm before disease onset.