Transverse Aortic Constriction in Mice

Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in the mouse is a commonly used experimental model for pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. TAC initially leads to compensated hypertrophy of the heart, which often is associated with a temporary enhancement of cardiac contractility. Over time, however, the response to the chronic hemodynamic overload becomes maladaptive, resulting in cardiac dilatation and heart failure. The murine TAC model was first validated by Rockman et al., and has since been extensively used as a valuable tool to mimic human cardiovascular diseases and elucidate fundamental signaling processes involved in the cardiac hypertrophic response and heart failure development. When compared to other experimental models of heart failure, such as complete occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, TAC provides a more reproducible model of cardiac hypertrophy and a more gradual time course in the development of heart failure. Here, we describe a step-by-step procedure to perform surgical TAC in mice. To determine the level of pressure overload produced by the aortic ligation, a high frequency Doppler probe is used to measure the ratio between blood flow velocities in the right and left carotid arteries. With surgical survival rates of 80-90%, transverse aortic banding is an effective technique of inducing left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure in mice.