Analysis of local extracellular matrix identifies different aetiologies behind bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valve degeneration and suggests therapies

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Final published version, 1.69 MB, PDF document

  • Christian M. Beusch
  • Oscar E. Simonson
  • Johan O. Wedin
  • Sabatier, Pierre Camille
  • Ulrika Felldin
  • Sandeep Kadekar
  • Cecilia Österholm
  • Ákos Végvári
  • Roman A. Zubarev
  • Karin Fromell
  • Bo Nilson
  • Stefan James
  • Elisabeth Ståhle
  • Karl Henrik Grinnemo
  • Sergey Rodin

Aortic valve degeneration (AVD) is a life-threatening condition that has no medical treatment and lacks individual therapies. Although extensively studied with standard approaches, aetiologies behind AVD are unclear. We compared abundances of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins from excised valve tissues of 88 patients with isolated AVD of normal tricuspid (TAV) and congenital bicuspid aortic valves (BAV), quantified more than 1400 proteins per ECM sample by mass spectrometry, and demonstrated that local ECM preserves molecular cues of the pathophysiological processes. The BAV ECM showed enrichment with fibrosis markers, namely Tenascin C, Osteoprotegerin, and Thrombospondin-2. The abnormal physical stress on BAV may cause a mechanical injury leading to a continuous Tenascin C-driven presence of myofibroblasts and persistent fibrosis. The TAV ECM exhibited enrichment with Annexin A3 (p = 1.1 × 10–16 and the fold change 6.5) and a significant deficit in proteins involved in high-density lipid metabolism. These results were validated by orthogonal methods. The difference in the ECM landscape suggests distinct aetiologies between AVD of BAV and TAV; warrants different treatments of the patients with BAV and TAV; elucidates the molecular basis of AVD; and implies possible new therapeutic approaches. Our publicly available database (human_avd_ecm.surgsci.uu.se) is a rich source for medical doctors and researchers who are interested in AVD or heart ECM in general. Systematic proteomic analysis of local ECM using the methods described here may facilitate future studies of various tissues and organs in development and disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article number268
JournalCellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Volume80
Issue number9
Number of pages15
ISSN1420-682X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

    Research areas

  • Aortic stenosis/regurgitation, Extracellular matrix, Proteomics

ID: 366767243