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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The ultrastructure and the expression of cytoskeletal and contractile proteins were studied in the intimal cells of human coronary arteries (CA) taken at autopsy from 38 trauma victims aged 1 to 70 years. All intimal smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the CA from 2-4-year old children contained desmin, vimentin, myosin, and actin. In the normal intima of adolescents aged 14-16 years, only did some SMC contain desmin whereas in that of adults, they had no desmin, but expressed all other proteins. For example, some atherosclerotic plaques of CA exhibited desmin-positive SMC and smooth muscle myosin-free cells. The ultrastructure of SMC of atherosclerotic plaques showed profound polymorphism. In addition to typical SMC, the plaques displayed modified cells having a developed endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex. The fact that the atherosclerotic plaques have cells differing in ultrastructural features and protein expression, which is specific to an earlier period of the body development suggests phenotypic changes in the cells and the latter acquiring new functions that are of great significance in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:[Phenotype changes in smooth muscle cells of human coronary arteries during aging and during development of atherosclerosis]. 179 63

A marked plaque was produced at the tunica intima of the ascending aorta in all of the Japanese quails of 9 weeks old which fed on atherogenic diet containing 2% cholesterol for 8 weeks, while no structural changes of aortic wall were observed in Japanese quails which fed on normal basic food for the same period. The media of aorta in normal quails consist of smooth muscle cells, myofibroblast-like cells (MF) cells), and many successive elastic membranes. At the atherosclerotic lesion, many MF cells migrated from media into intima, and a part of smooth muscle cells were also differentiated to MF cells. Moreover, the most migrating MF cells differentiated to foam cells at the intimal thickness regions, and a few other MF cells also differentiated into endothelial cells of newly forming capillaries. By the immunohistochemical stainings, medial smooth muscle cells were negatively stained with anti-vimentin antibody, and the majority of cells in the intima (MF cells, foam cells, and endothelial cells) contained vimentin filaments. These results indicate that MF cells play a very important role in the development of atherosclerosis in Japanese quail. The morphologicals study offers some new insights into the evaluation of Japanese quails as an animal model of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:[Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study of experimental atherosclerosis in Japanese quails]. 204 65

The internal mammary artery (IMA) is used widely in bypass grafting for coronary artery disease because of its resistance to atherosclerotic obstruction. Since there are no data on the ultrastructure of IMA or the phenotype of its smooth muscle cells (SMC), we studied the distal parts of left IMA obtained at the time of surgery from 14 coronary bypass patients, aged 43-67 years. Eight IMA were examined by transmission electron microscopy. The distribution of the cytoskeletal proteins actin, vimentin, and desmin in the intima-media of 6 IMA was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The intimas were very thin, from 3 to 32 microns. The thinnest regions contained no cells. Most intimal cells had the ultrastructural features of SMC; no foam cells were found. The majority of both intimal and medial SMC had a myofilament-rich phenotype. Cells reacting to antibodies of vimentin, desmin and alpha-actin were found in both intima and media. alpha-Actin formed 67% of all actin isoforms in the intima-medial extracts. Our study confirms ultrastructurally the reported scarcity of atherosclerosis in the human IMA and shows that the majority of SMC in the IMA of even severely atherosclerotic coronary bypass patients are both ultrastructurally and biochemically in a differentiated state, which agrees with their resistance to atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis 1989 Oct
PMID:Ultrastructural, immunochemical and electrophoretic study of smooth muscle cells in internal mammary arteries of patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. 268 63

The Simpson atherectomy device used for the recanalization of severely stenosed peripheral arteries is able to collect plaque material which can be further characterized. This study reports histological, immunohistochemical and transmission electron microscopic findings on advanced human primary atherosclerotic plaques of peripheral arteries percutaneously removed by a Simpson atherectomy catheter. Material from stenosing plaques consisted of dense connective tissue with abundant amounts of concentrically arranged elastic fibers and lamellae. This meshwork contained numerous cells, often arranged in clusters and oriented with their longer axis parallel to the direction of blood flow. The vast majority of these cells could be easily identified as vimentin-positive and desmin-negative smooth muscle cells containing lipid deposits in the perinuclear region and numerous glycogen particles. Monocytes/macrophages were observed only very infrequently. Plaque tissue contained a range of smooth muscle cell phenotypes. Most of the cells were of an intermediate phenotype, i.e. sparsely filled with myofilament bundles at the cell periphery and a high amount of organelles such as mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi cisterns. An intact lining of pieces of intimal tissue with endothelial cells was not observed. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of plaque tissue showed the presence of alpha-, beta- and gamma-actin isoforms with a clear predominance of the beta-isoform.
Atherosclerosis 1989 Dec
PMID:Cell constitution and characteristics of human atherosclerotic plaques selectively removed by percutaneous atherectomy. 269 72

Subendothelial cells (SEC) were obtained from the inner intimal layer of adult human aorta by collagenase treatment. SEC were identified in primary culture either as smooth muscle cells by staining with FITC-labeled antisera against human smooth muscle myosin or as macrophages, foam cells and contaminating endothelial cells by their uptake of malondialdehyde treated low density lipoproteins labeled with fluorescent dye 3,3'-dioctadecylindocarbocyanine. Between 1 and 5 days in culture, along with smooth muscle cells (SMC, 38-82%), endothelial cells (0-9%), macrophages and foam cells (2-32%), one more type of cell was found. This cell type resembled SMC in size and shape, but was not stained by antisera to SMC myosin. By ultrastructural criteria these cells were characterized as modulated SMC for they contained prominent rough endoplastic reticulum and Golgi complex together with basement membrane and a large number of plasmalemmal vesicles. Like SMC they reacted with phalloidin and were stained by anti-vimentin but not by anti-desmin monoclonal antibodies. The proportion of such cells varied from 5 to 33% of total cell number and increased in parallel to macrophages and foam cells in vessels with well developed atherosclerotic lesions. We conclude that the applied technique may be used for identification of cultured vascular cells including modulated SMC.
Atherosclerosis 1988 May
PMID:Identification of intimal subendothelial cells from human aorta in primary culture. 313 80

The phenotype of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in the aortic media of 7 human fetuses (14-20 weeks of gestation) was examined with transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescence microscopy, and gel electrophoresis of the cytoskeletal and cytocontractile proteins. Ultrastructurally, virtually all medial cells were identified as SMCs having a poorly differentiated phenotype with a cytoplasm rich in rough endoplasmic reticulum and organelles, and with only a few myofilaments. All medial cells stained intensely with antibodies to vimentin, but only in a 20-week-old fetus could we find a few SMCs staining with antibodies to desmin. Nor was desmin detectable with SDS gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting, while clear bands corresponding to vimentin, myosin, and actin were present. In isoelectric focusing and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis beta-actin was the most prominent of the 3 actin isoforms in all cases. The present results show that SMCs in the media of fetal human aorta have a poorly differentiated phenotype, which morphologically and biochemically resembles that previously described in the aorta of fetal and newborn rat, in the arterial intima after endothelial injury, in atherosclerotic lesions, and after spontaneous modulation of medial SMCs in culture.
Atherosclerosis 1988 Nov
PMID:Characterization of the phenotype of smooth muscle cells in human fetal aorta on the basis of ultrastructure, immunofluorescence, and the composition of cytoskeletal and cytocontractile proteins. 321 79

The aortic walls of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and of healthy controls were examined for elastin, collagen I and III, and the intermediate filament proteins desmin and vimentin by immunohistochemical, enzyme histochemical, and routine histological techniques. The morphology of the aneurysmatic walls varied considerably from case to case, but many pathological changes were seen in all cases, e.g., extensive atherosclerotic plaques in the intima, prominent alterations in amount and organization of the elastic lamellae in the media, and an increase of connective tissue. Both collagen I and III were present in all the aneurysmatic walls. The smooth muscle cells in all the aortic walls showed a marked heterogeneity with respect to the morphological appearance, the enzyme histochemical features, and the content of desmin and vimentin. Vimentin occurred in some intimal, medial muscle, and adventitial cells of both the controls and the AAA patients. Desmin occurred in some of the intimal, medial, and adventitial muscle cells of both the controls and the AAA patients. All the cells with desmin in the intima and media also contained vimentin. Thus, smooth muscle cells in the walls of both the normal human abdominal aorta and aneurysms contained either vimentin, desmin, or both. This variability may be explained by the presence of different phenotypes of smooth muscle cells and could be of significance for the development of atherosclerosis and aneurysms. Of special interest was the finding that 5 of the 24 AAA patients studied had blood relatives with the same disease, suggesting a hereditary influence. However, no systematic differences between the morphological appearance of the aneurysmatic walls in familial and nonfamilial AAA could be detected.
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PMID:Abdominal aortic aneurysms: distribution of elastin, collagen I and III, and intermediate filament proteins desmin and vimentin--a comparison of familial and nonfamilial aneurysms. 353 8

We have examined the intermediate filament (IF) protein content of vascular smooth muscle (SM) cells from several arteries and veins in rabbits and quantitated the changes which occur in SM cell expression of these proteins in response to cholesterol feeding. Cells from control rabbit arteries expressed 30% of their IF protein as desmin, while veins expressed 50% as desmin. During development of diet-induced atherosclerosis, morphological changes in arterial SM cells in the intima correlate with changes in IF expression. There is a significant increase in total IF protein content, vimentin increased differentially in thoracic aorta and desmin in pulmonary artery. In abdominal aorta both increase equally. Cholesterol feeding also resulted in changes in the expression of subspecies of desmin, vimentin, and actin in the thoracic arch. Although cholesterol feeding did not produce obvious morphological changes in the veins examined, venous SM IF protein expression was also altered. In the vena cava of cholesterol-fed rabbits there was an increase in vimentin expression without the parallel increase in desmin that occurred in the arterial system. These studies show that cholesterol feeding of rabbits induces measurable changes in the amounts of IF proteins in both arterial atherosclerotic lesions and venous SM cells.
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PMID:Intermediate filament heterogeneity in normal and hypercholesterolemic rabbit vascular smooth muscle cells. 394 65

Aortic intima-medias of normal and cholesterol-fed rabbits were studied with EM and cells were isolated by enzyme digestion. The composition of cytoskeletal and cytocontractile proteins was determined with SDS-PAGE and the primary growth and thymidine incorporation rates were assessed after seeding the cells into tissue culture flasks. Ultrastructurally, the SMCs in the thickened atherosclerotic intima differed from the contractile medial SMCs in containing lipid vacuoles, enlarged endoplasmic reticulum and a reduced number of myofilaments, thus showing characteristics of dedifferentiated SMCs. In SDS-PAGE, freshly isolated cells from the atherosclerotic intima-medias had a lower content of myosin and actin, and a higher proportion of vimentin and desmin than SMCs from normal aortas. Enzyme-isolated SMCs from normal aortas did not start to grow and incorporate radioactive thymidine until 5-6 days after seeding, whereas those from atherosclerotic aortas did so within 2 days. After a week in culture, SMCs from both sources resembled each other, and had decreased contents of myosin and actin, and increased concentrations of vimentin in comparison to freshly isolated normal SMCs. The present results indicate (a) that morphological dedifferentiation of SMCs in aortic lesions of cholesterol-fed rabbits is associated with an increased proportion of the proteins of the intermediate filaments and a decrease in those of the thin and thick myofilaments as determined with SDS-PAGE, and (b) that similar changes take place when normal SMCs are cultured in vitro. The results also suggest (c) that enzyme-isolated atherosclerotic SMCs proliferate in a primary culture without the lag period that normal SMCs apparently require for dedifferentiation.
Atherosclerosis 1984 Jul
PMID:Growth properties and composition of cytoskeletal and cytocontractile proteins in aortic cells isolated and cultured from normal and atherosclerotic rabbits. 646 13

Study of 45 renal allograft nephrectomy specimens revealed the presence of relatively uncommon arterial vascular lesions: atheromatosis (12 cases) and a double layer of smooth muscle in the intima (Double Media) (4 cases). Histopathologic features of atheromatosis showed the presence of large lipid-laden cells localized in the intimal layer of arteries. Diagnosis of acute vascular rejection (AVR) was made in 19 cases. Diagnosis of chronic vascular rejection (CVR) was found in 4 cases. 22 cases showed lesions of both AVR and CVR. In 12 cases there was infiltration of the intima and media wall by foam cells closely resembling an atheromatous lesion. Four cases of Double Media were found in allografts with survival varying from 51 to 344 days. The presence of either atheromatous or double media does not correlate statistically with immunosuppressive treatment, blood pressure or with the presence of hypertriglyceridemia and/or hypercholesterolemia. Immunohistochemical investigation of atheromatosis revealed total negativity of the foam cells with antisera to: actin, myosin, desmin and myoglobin. Variable reactivity was observed with antisera to vimentin. Myointimal cells of Double Media expressed slight positivity for actin and vimentin. The double media lesion seems to be the result of a reparative vascular process secondary to rejection changes. Atheromatosis seems to be closely correlated to episodes of acute rejection. Vascular lesions in grafts are harbinger of poor prognosis. Double media lesion and atheromatosis do not seem to have a more unfavourable prognostic significance on the evolution of the transplants.
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PMID:Atheromatosis and double media: uncommon vascular lesions of renal allografts. 836 81


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