Angiopoietin 2 as a Novel Potential Biomarker for Acute Aortic Dissection

Figures

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  Figure 1. A heatmap was generated by clustering based on probes differentially expressed in dissected aortas as compared with normal aortas. The gene associated with each probe is indicated to the right of the heatmap.

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  Figure 2. Validation of expression changes of ANGPT2 and CCL3 in transcription and protein level. (A): Validation of microarray data by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR). The expression patterns of ANGPT2 and CCL3 increased 2.4-fold (P < 0.01) and 3.6-fold (P = 0.02) in aortic tissues of AAD compared with healthy control. GAPDH was used as housekeeping gene. **: P < 0.01, *: P < 0.05. (B,C): Western blot for ANGPT2 and CCL3 protein from aortic tissues of healthy control and AAD patients. β-actin serves as an internal control. ANGPT2 increased up to 4.2 folds in AAD patients, whereas CCL3 did not change.

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  Figure 3. Aortic pathology of AAD patients and healthy controls. The elastic fibers were properly oriented in control aortas and laminar medial necrosis, inflammation, and giant cells were not present in healthy controls (A–C). In contrast, the aorta wall tissues were loosely structured and disordered in AAD patients. The dissected aortas were found medial degeneration, as shown by loss of smooth muscle cells and elastic fibers, and proteoglycan accumulation in the medial layer of the aorta (D–F). Arrows indicated the lumen side. HE, hematoxylin-eosin; EVG, elastica van Gieson's; Masson, Masson's trichrome. Magnification: ×100. AAD, acute aortic dissection.

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  Figure 4. Immunohistochemical staining. Ascending aorta specimen in the entry site of the dissection from AAD patients were sectioned and labeled with ANGPT2. (A–C), control aortas exhibited a weaker signal of ANGPT2. (D–F), Intense ANGPT2 signals were presented in the thoracic aortic dissection patient. Arrows indicate examples of ANGPT2 positive cells. HC, healthy control; AAD, acute aortic dissection; magnification: × 200.

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  Figure 5. Plasma levels of ANGPT2 in healthy control (n = 82), Type A Dissection (n = 77). Data are expressed as scatter plots respresenting the median, 25 and 75 percentiles. Statistical analysis: Mann-Whitney non-parametric test.

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  Figure 6. ROC analysis of ANGPT2.