Association of abelson non-receptor tyrosine kinase and actin cytoskeleton dynamics with aortic dissection

Abstract

Objective To determine the possible relationship between abelson non-receptor tyrosine kinase (c-Abl) and aortic dissection.Methods Aortic specimens were obtained from patients undergoing aortic replacement surgery for type A aortic dissection with high blood pressure ( n =9,HBP-AD group) and with normal blood pressure (n =15,NBP-AD group),along with control donors dying of causes unrelated to aortic disease (n =8,cpmtrol group,collected during heart transplantation).Apoptosis was also assessed by bax/bcl-2.Filamentous actin (F-actin) and global actin (G-actin) were tested as a measure of actin cytoskeleton dynamics.Western blotting was performed to evaluate c-Abl and phosphorylated c-Abl protein levels.Results bax/B lymphocytes/leukemia-2 (bcl-2) were elevated in aortic tissue from patients with aortic dissection as compared with those in controls (Controls:0.97 ±0.02; HBP-AD:2.45 ± 0.06,P ＜ 0.01 vs controls; NBP-AD:2.30 ± 0.12,P ＜ 0.01 vs Controls).Actin polymerization was increased in aortic tissue ( Controls:1.53 ± 0.03; HBP-AD:3.00 ± 0.03,P ＜ 0.01 vs Controls;NBP-AD:2.72 ± 0.04,P ＜ 0.01 vs Controls).C-Abl ( Controls:0.12 ± 0.01 ; HBP-AD:0.36 ± 0.01,P ＜0.01 vs Controls; NBP-AD:0.41 ±0.02,P ＜0.01 vs Controls) and phosphorylated c-Abl protein levels ( Controls:0.0047 ±0.0003 ; HBP-AD:0.0230 ±0.0010,P ＜0.01 vs Controls; NBP-AD:0.0210 ±0.0010,P＜0.01 vs Controls) wer also elevated.However,there was no significant difference between HBP-AD group and NBP-AD group in all data ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusion c-Abl is associated with aortic dissection,probably by regulating apoptosis and the actin cytoskeleton.c-Abl could be a potential target of prevention and treatment for aortic dissection. Key words: Aortic dissection; Actin cytoskeleton; Abelson non-receptor tyrosine kinase