Vascular dimorphism ensured by regulated proteoglycan dynamics favors rapid umbilical artery closure at birth.

ABSTRACT: The umbilical artery lumen closes rapidly at birth, preventing neonatal blood loss, whereas the umbilical vein remains patent longer. Here, analysis of umbilical cords from humans and other mammals identified differential arterial-venous proteoglycan dynamics as a determinant of these contrasting vascular responses. The umbilical artery, but not the vein, has an inner layer enriched in the hydrated proteoglycan aggrecan, external to which lie contraction-primed smooth muscle cells (SMC). At birth, SMC contraction drives inner layer buckling and centripetal displacement to occlude the arterial lumen, a mechanism revealed by biomechanical observations and confirmed by computational analyses. This vascular dimorphism arises from spatially regulated proteoglycan expression and breakdown. Mice

SUBMITTER: Nandadasa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7529456 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature