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Corin is highly expressed in atherosclerosis models
Jingjing Jiang1, Quan Zhou1, Mingcheng Sun1
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, PR China.
Insights
Corin, a heart enzyme, is found in the aorta and increases with atherosclerosis. This suggests corin plays a role in aortic health and disease, offering potential therapeutic targets.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Protease Function
- Atherosclerosis Research
Background:
- Corin is a serine protease primarily expressed in the heart, regulating blood pressure via pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) activation.
- While known for cardiac function, corin's presence and role in the aorta and atherosclerosis remain unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate corin expression and its role in the aorta under normal and atherosclerotic conditions.
- To determine if corin and its substrate pro-ANP are involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis.
Main Methods:
- In vivo studies using mouse models of atherosclerosis.
- In vitro studies with cultured vascular endothelial cells.
- Analysis of corin and pro-ANP expression in aortic tissues and cells.
Main Results:
- Corin exhibits basal expression in mouse aortic intimal endothelial cells, significantly upregulated in an atherosclerosis model.
- Pro-ANP, corin's substrate, is also present in mouse aortas and increases during atherosclerosis.
- Corin expression is induced in cultured vascular endothelial cells by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) stimulation.
Conclusions:
- Corin is expressed in the aorta and its levels are altered in atherosclerosis, suggesting a role in aortic physiology and disease.
- Corin may act in an autocrine manner within the aorta, influencing atherosclerotic processes.
- Corin represents a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis treatment.
Abstract:
Corin is a serine protease mainly expressed in the heart, where it regulates blood pressure and cardiac function through activating pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) to ANP. Its expression has also been detected in non-cardiac tissues. However, there is no report so far about the distribution and function of corin in aorta and in related diseases such as atherosclerosis. This study was the first to explore corin expression in aorta both under normal conditions and in atherosclerosis models. In vivo, we found corin had a basal level of expression in aortas, mainly in intimal endothelial cells and was significantly elevated in mouse atherosclerosis model. Moreover, we observed pro-ANP, the specific substrate of corin, was also expressed in mice aortas and increased in mouse atherosclerosis model. In vitro, we further demonstrated corin expression in cultured vascular endothelial cells and its induced expression after ox-LDL stimulation. Our results suggested that corin may play important roles in aorta physiology and in the pathophysiological process of atherosclerosis in an autocrine manner and has potential clinical value for the treatment of atherosclerosis.
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