| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We investigated the role of autophagy in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on atherosclerosis. The apolipoprotein E-deficient mice, Atg7f/f and SM22α-Cre mice bred with each other to generate mice with SMCs specific Atg7 deficiency (ATG7-SMCs KO) and littermate control (control). For atherosclerosis study, 10-week-old male mice were placed on a Western diet containing 1.25% cholesterol for 14 weeks. Plaque sizes in abdominal aortic areas of ATG7-SMCs KO apolipoprotein E-deficient mice exceptionally expanded compared to control apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Hydrogen peroxide induced apoptosis related signals were significantly enhanced in primary culture SMC isolated from ATG7-SMCs KO apolipoprotein E-deficient mice compared to those from control apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Our data suggest that SMC autophagy play a protective role on atherosclerosis through inhibiting SMC cell death.
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