Aorta-on-a-chip reveals impaired mitochondrial dynamics as a therapeutic target for aortic aneurysm in bicuspid aortic valve disease
Abstract
Background
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital cardiovascular disease in general population and is frequently associated with the development of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA). There is no effective strategy to intervene with TAA progression due to an incomplete understanding of the pathogenesis. Insufficiency of NOTCH1 expression is highly related to BAV-TAA, but the underlying mechanism remains to be clarified.
Methods
A comparative proteomics analysis was used to explore the biological differences between non-diseased and BAV-TAA aortic tissues. A microfluidics-based aorta-on-a-chip model was constructed to evaluate the effect of NOTCH1 deficiency on contractile phenotype and mitochondrial dynamics of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HAoSMCs).
Results
Protein analyses of human aortic tissues showed the insufficient expression of NOTCH1 and impaired mitochondrial dynamics in BAV-TAA. HAoSMCs with NOTCH1-knockdown exhibited reduced contractile phenotype and were accompanied by attenuated mitochondrial fusion. Furthermore, we identified that mitochondrial fusion activators (leflunomide and teriflunomide) or mitochondrial fission inhibitor (Mdivi-1) partially rescued the disorders of mitochondrial dynamics in HAoSMCs derived from BAV-TAA patients.
Conclusions
The aorta-on-a-chip model simulates the human pathophysiological parameters of aorta biomechanics and provides a platform for molecular mechanism studies of aortic disease and related drug screening. This aorta-on-a-chip model and human tissue proteomic analysis revealed that impaired mitochondrial dynamics could be a potential therapeutic target for BAV-TAA.
Funding
National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project, Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.
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