Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

During accelerated vascular remodeling such as in atherosclerosis, the composition of the extracellular matrix becomes altered. The matrix components of the diseased artery influence cellular processes such as adhesion, migration and proliferation. Furthermore, in atherosclerosis, the inability of the cells within the lesion to produce a mechanically stable matrix may lead to plaque rupture. In this immunohistochemical study of atherosclerotic mice aorta, we have reviewed the presence of ECM components with roles in maintaining tissue structure and function. These components include osteopontin and COMP as well as the leucine rich repeats proteins decorin, PRELP, and fibromodulin. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated presence of osteopontin, COMP, decorin, PRELP and fibromodulin in lesion areas of ApoE/LDLr deficient mice. Some advanced lesions exhibited areas of cartilage-like morphology and were shown to represent cartilage by their content of the cartilage specific proteins collagen II and aggrecan. The results suggest that cartilage-associated cell/collagen binding ECM proteins may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Extracellular matrix components in atherosclerotic arteries of Apo E/LDL receptor deficient mice: an immunohistochemical study. 1502 95

The propensity to develop atherosclerosis varies markedly among different sites in the human vasculature. To determine a possible cause for such differences in atherosclerosis susceptibility, a proteomics-based approach was used to assess the extracellular proteoglycan core protein composition of intimal hyperplasia from both the atherosclerosis-prone internal carotid artery and the atherosclerosis-resistant internal thoracic artery. The intimal proteoglycan composition in these preatherosclerotic lesions was found to be more complex than previously appreciated with up to eight distinct core proteins present, including the large extracellular proteoglycans versican and aggrecan, the basement membrane proteoglycan perlecan, the class I small leucine-rich proteoglycans biglycan and decorin, and the class II small leucine-rich proteoglycans lumican, fibromodulin, and prolargin/PRELP (proline arginine-rich end leucine-rich repeat protein). Although most of these proteoglycans seem to be present in similar amounts at the two locations, there was a selective enhanced deposition of lumican in the intima of the atherosclerosis-prone internal carotid artery compared with the intima of the atherosclerosis-resistant internal thoracic artery. The enhanced deposition of lumican in the intima of an atherosclerosis prone artery has important implications for the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Analysis of intimal proteoglycans in atherosclerosis-prone and atherosclerosis-resistant human arteries by mass spectrometry. 1597 May 83

Proteoglycans consist of a protein core with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains and have multiple roles in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Here we discuss the potential and known functions of a group of small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycans (SLRPs) in atherosclerosis. We focus on five SLRPs, decorin, biglycan, lumican, fibromodulin and PRELP, because these have been detected in atherosclerotic plaques or demonstrated to have a role in animal models of atherosclerosis. Decorin and biglycan are modified post-translationally by substitution with chondroitin/dermatan sulphate GAGs, whereas lumican, fibromodulin and PRELP have keratan sulphate side chains, and the core proteins have leucine-rich repeat (LRR) motifs that are characteristic of the LRR superfamily. The chondroitin/dermatan sulphate GAG side chains have been implicated in lipid retention in atherosclerosis. The core proteins are discussed here in the context of (i) interactions with collagens and their implications in tissue integrity, fibrosis and wound repair and (ii) interactions with growth factors, cytokines, pathogen-associated molecular patterns and cell surface receptors that impact normal physiology and disease processes such as inflammation, innate immune responses and wound healing (i.e. processes that are all important in plaque development and progression). Thus, studies of these SLRPs in the context of wound healing are providing clues about their functions in early stages of atherosclerosis to plaque vulnerability and cardiovascular disease at later stages. Understanding of signal transduction pathways regulated by the core protein interactions is leading to novel roles and therapeutic potential for these proteins in wound repair and atherosclerosis.
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PMID:The small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycans in tissue repair and atherosclerosis. 2647 96