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Published on: September 26, 2018
[Upregulated PGC-NRF-mtTFA expressions contributed to the development of atherosclerosis in rabbits fed with a high
Wen-sheng Wu1, Gui-nan Liu, Hai-yang Huo
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
Objective:
To investigate the relationship between PPAR coactivator 1 (PGC-1), nuclear respiratory factor (NRF), mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) expressions of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and development of atherosclerosis in a rabbit model.
Methods:
Atherosclerotic model was established by feeding the rabbits with high-fat diet for 4, 8 and 12 weeks (n = 10 each). Another 8 rabbits fed with normal diet served as normal controls. Intima-media ratio, mRNA and protein expressions of PGC-1, NRF, mtTFA and SMemb, a marker for synthetic VSMC, were detected on aorta specimens.
Results:
With the blood lipid increased, the intima-media ratio rose from (0.031 +/- 0.010) microm up to (0.814 +/- 0.258) microm during 12 weeks. Increasing SMemb means that synthetic VSMC grew more and more. The expressions of PGC-1 became significant after 4 weeks (P < 0.01), while that of NRF-1 and mtTFA rose significantly after 8 weeks (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
The PGC-NRF-mtTFA pathway might play a critical role in VSMC proliferation and development of atherosclerosis.