ADAMTS-5 Decreases in Aortas and Plasma From Aortic Dissection Patients and Alleviates Angiotensin II-Induced Smooth Muscle-Cell Apoptosis

Figures

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  Figure 1. ADAMTS-5 expression in human aortic tissues. (A) The levels of ADAMTS-5 in aortic tissues from normal donors and AAD patients were detected by western blotting. *P < 0.05 vs. donors. (B) Representative images of elastic Van Gieson (EVG) staining and immunohistochemistry staining of human aortic tissues from normal donors or acute aortic dissection (AAD) patients. Scale bar, 50 μm. (C) The source of ADAMTS-5 in aortic tissues from AAD patients was detected by double-immunofluorescence staining.

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  Figure 2. Plasma cytokine levels in each group. The plasma levels of ADAMTS-5 (A), MMP-2 (B), MMP-9 (C), and TNF-α (D) in the NAD and AAD groups were measured by ELISA. Spearman's correlation between plasma levels of MMP-2 (E), MMP-9 (F), TNF-α (G), and ADAMTS-5 in AAD patients.

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  Figure 3. Correlation between plasma ADAMTS-5 levels and clinical characteristics. Correlations between ADAMTS-5 levels and (A) Glu, (B) SBP, (C) WBC, (D) CRP, (E) D-dimer, and (F) CREA. Glu, fasting glucose; SBP, systolic blood pressure; WBC, white blood cell; CRP, C-reactive protein; CREA, creatinine.

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  Figure 4. Effect of ADAMTS-5 treatment on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced SMC apoptosis in vitro. (A) RT-PCR analyses of MMP-2, MMP-9, TNF-α, Bax, and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein expression in vitro. (B) TUNEL staining and quantitation analysis in the indicated groups. *P < 0.05 vs. control. #P < 0.05 vs. Ang II. (C) Western blotting analyses of Bax, Bcl-2 and c-caspase 3 protein expression in vitro.