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Architecture of the Subendothelial Elastic Fibers of Small Blood Vessels and Variations in Vascular Type and Size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2013

Akira Shinaoka ,
Ryusuke Momota ,
Eri Shiratsuchi ,
Mitsuko Kosaka ,
Kanae Kumagishi ,
Ryuichi Nakahara ,
Ichiro Naito  and
Aiji Ohtsuka
Akira Shinaoka
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Ryusuke Momota
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Eri Shiratsuchi
Affiliation:
Research and Development Division, Hayashikane Sangyo Co., Ltd., Shimonoseki 750-8608, Japan
Mitsuko Kosaka
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Kanae Kumagishi
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Ryuichi Nakahara
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Ichiro Naito
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Aiji Ohtsuka*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Morphology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: aiji@okayama-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

vascular corrosion castingelastic fiberelastinSEMformic acid digestionratthree-dimensional architecture
Type
Biological Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 406 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013

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