An ex-vivo model for evaluating bioenergetics in aortic rings

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide and it exhibits a greatly increasing incidence proportional to aging. Atherosclerosis is a chronic condition of arterial hardening resulting in restriction of oxygen delivery and blood flow to the heart. Relationships between mitochondrial DNA damage, oxidant production, and early atherogenesis have been recently established and it is likely that aspects of atherosclerotic risk are metabolic in nature. Here we present a novel method through which mitochondrial bioenergetics can be assessed from whole aorta tissue. This method does not require mitochondrial isolation or cell culture and it allows for multiple technical replicates and expedient measurement. This procedure facilitates quantitative bioenergetic analysis and can provide great utility in better understanding the link between mitochondria, metabolism, and atherogenesis.