Using the atomic force microscopy- (AFM-) PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping (QNM) technique, we have previously shown that the adventitia of the human internal mammary artery (IMA), tested under dehydrated conditions, is altered in patients with a high degree of arterial stiffening. In this study, we explored the nanoscale elastic modulus of the tunica media of the IMA in hydrated and dehydrated conditions from the patients with low and high arterial stiffening, as assessed in vivo by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). In both hydrated and dehydrated conditions, the medial layer was significantly stiffer in the high PWV group. The elastic modulus of the hydrated and dehydrated tunica media was significantly correlated with PWV. In the hydrated condition, the expression activity of certain small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycans (SLRPs), which are associated with arterial stiffening, were found to be negatively correlated to the medial elastic modulus. We also compared the data with our previous work on the IMA adventitia. We found that the hydrated media and dehydrated adventitia are both suitable for reflecting the development of arterial stiffening and SLRP expression. This comprehensive study of the nanomechanical properties integrated with the proteomic analysis in the IMAs demonstrates the possibility of linking structural properties and function in small biological samples with novel AFM methods. The IMA is a suitable target for predicting arterial stiffening.

中文翻译：

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乳内动脉的 AFM 表征作为动脉硬化的新目标

使用原子力显微镜 - (AFM-) PeakForce 定量纳米机械测绘 (QNM) 技术，我们之前已经表明，在脱水条件下测试的人乳内动脉 (IMA) 外膜在高度缺水的患者中发生了改变。动脉硬化。在这项研究中，我们通过颈动脉-股动脉脉搏波速度（PWV）在体内评估了低动脉硬化和高动脉硬化患者在水合和脱水条件下IMA中膜的纳米级弹性模量。在水合和脱水条件下，高 PWV 组的内侧层明显更硬。水合和脱水被膜介质的弹性模量与 PWV 显着相关。在水合条件下，某些富含亮氨酸的小重复蛋白聚糖（SLRP）的表达活性与动脉硬化相关，被发现与内侧弹性模量呈负相关。我们还将这些数据与我们之前关于 IMA 外膜的工作进行了比较。我们发现水合培养基和脱水外膜都适合反映动脉硬化的发展和SLRP表达。这项对 IMA 中纳米力学特性与蛋白质组学分析相结合的综合研究证明了将小型生物样品中的结构特性和功能与新型 AFM 方法联系起来的可能性。IMA 是预测动脉硬化的合适目标。