Epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 expression in arteriosclerosis obliterans and abdominal aortic aneurysm / 中华普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression characteristics of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 ( egfl 7 ) in arteriosclerosis obliterans ( ASO) tissues and abdominal aortic aneurysm ( AAA ) tissues, and it's role in atherosclerosis (AS).Methods In this study, 8 normal artery, 11 lower extremity ASO and 34 AAA samples were collected.Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were performed in artery sections to investigate the expression characteristics of egfl 7 at protein and mRNA levels.The relative quantitative detection of egfl 7 mRNA was detected by qRT-PCR.The effect of egfl 7 was examined by RNA interference.Results In ASO and AAA samples, the expression of egfl 7 protein was mainly in the tunica media; The expression site of egfl 7 mRNA was the same as that of egfl 7 protein.Compared with normal artery samples, the expression of egfl 7 mRNA was significantly upregulated in the early stage of ASO samples and AAA samples (325 ± 120 vs.100 ± 36, P ＜ 0.01, 216 ± 133 vs.100 ± 36, P ＜ 0.05 ).Compared with the control group, the proliferative ability of smooth muscle cells was significantly down regulated after egfl 7 interference (0.85 ± 0.05 vs.1.34 ± 0.04, P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions egfl 7 might be a gene that regulates the pathogenic process of atherosclerosis through promoting vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation.