Mechanical heterogeneities in the subendothelial matrix develop with age and decrease with exercise.

ABSTRACT: Arterial stiffening occurs with age and is associated with lack of exercise. Notably both age and lack of exercise are major cardiovascular risk factors. While it is well established that bulk arterial stiffness increases with age, more recent data suggest that the intima, the innermost arterial layer, also stiffens during aging. Micro-scale mechanical characterization of individual layers is important because cells primarily sense the matrix that they are in contact with and not necessarily the bulk stiffness of the vessel wall. To investigate the relationship between age, exercise, and subendothelial matrix stiffening, atomic force microscopy was utilized here to indent the subendothelial matrix of the thoracic aorta from young, aged-sedentary, and aged-exercised mice, and elastic modulu

SUBMITTER: Kohn JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4885756 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature