Figure 8.

Maturity of elastic fiber in aortic tissue. (A) The amount of desmosine, an indicator of elastic fiber maturity, was evaluated with an amino acid analysis. The amount of desmosine in the aortic tissue of 20-week-old Hspg2^−/−-Tg mice without AD was significantly decreased compared to that in age-matched WT-Tg mice or 10-week-old Hspg2^−/−-Tg mice (Mean ± SEM, n = 5, # p, * p < 0.05 vs. Hspg2^−/−-Tg at 20 weeks). (B) Immaturity of elastic fibers was evaluated by western blotting with anti-tropoelastin(TE), soluble precursor elastin, antibody, or anti-fibrillin-1 antibody. Each band was quantified using ImageJ software and is shown relative to β-actin. Soluble tropoelastin in Hspg2^−/−-Tg mouse aortic tissue was significantly increased compared to that in WT-Tg mice (Mean ± SEM, n = 3, # p, * p < 0.05 vs. WT-Tg, respectively).