Papers

Peer-reviewed
Apr, 2013

Architecture of the subendothelial elastic fibers of small blood vessels and variations in vascular type and size

Microscopy and Microanalysis
  • Akira Shinaoka
  • ,
  • Ryusuke Momota
  • ,
  • Eri Shiratsuchi
  • ,
  • Mitsuko Kosaka
  • ,
  • Kanae Kumagishi
  • ,
  • Ryuichi Nakahara
  • ,
  • Ichiro Naito
  • ,
  • Aiji Ohtsuka

Volume
19
Number
2
First page
406
Last page
414
Language
English
Publishing type
Research paper (scientific journal)
DOI
10.1017/S1431927612014341

Most blood vessels contain elastin that provides the vessels with the resilience and flexibility necessary to control hemodynamics. Pathophysiological hemodynamic changes affect the remodeling of elastic components, but little is known about their structural properties. The present study was designed to elucidate, in detail, the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of delicate elastic fibers in small vessels, and to reveal their architectural pattern in a rat model. The fine vascular elastic components were observed by a newly developed scanning electron microscopy technique using a formic acid digestion with vascular casts. This method successfully visualized the 3D architecture of elastic fibers in small blood vessels, even arterioles and venules. The subendothelial elastic fibers in such small vessels assemble into a sheet of meshwork running longitudinally, while larger vessels have a higher density of mesh and thicker mesh fibers. The quantitative analysis revealed that arterioles had a wider range of mesh density than venules
the ratio of density to vessel size was higher than that in venules. The new method was useful for evaluating the subendothelial elastic fibers of small vessels and for demonstrating differences in the architecture of different types of vessels. © Microscopy Society of America 2013.


Link information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927612014341
PubMed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23453051
Web of Science
https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=JSTA_CEL&SrcApp=J_Gate_JST&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=WOS:000316221500017&DestApp=WOS_CPL
URL
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6146-5184
ID information
  • DOI : 10.1017/S1431927612014341
  • ISSN : 1431-9276
  • ISSN : 1435-8115
  • ORCID - Put Code : 26053915
  • Pubmed ID : 23453051
  • SCOPUS ID : 84875475989
  • Web of Science ID : WOS:000316221500017

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