natriuretic-peptide--c-type and Heart-Valve-Diseases

Increasing evidence indicates that the progression of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is influenced by the mechanical forces experienced by valvular interstitial cells (VICs) embedded within the valve matrix. The ability of VICs to sense and respond to tissue-level mechanical stimuli depends in part on cellular-level biomechanical properties, which may change with disease. In this study, we used micropipette aspiration to measure the instantaneous elastic modulus of normal VICs and of VICs induced to undergo pathological differentiation in vitro to osteoblast or myofibroblast lineages on compliant and stiff collagen gels, respectively. We found that VIC elastic modulus increased after subculturing on stiff tissue culture-treated polystyrene and with pathological differentiation on the collagen gels. Fibroblast, osteoblast, and myofibroblast VICs had distinct cellular-level elastic properties that were not fully explained by substrate stiffness, but were correlated with α-smooth muscle actin expression levels. C-type natriuretic peptide, a peptide expressed in aortic valves in vivo, prevented VIC stiffening in vitro, consistent with its ability to inhibit α-smooth muscle actin expression and VIC pathological differentiation. These data demonstrate that VIC phenotypic plasticity and mechanical adaptability are linked and regulated both biomechanically and biochemically, with the potential to influence the progression of CAVD.

Topics: Actins; Animals; Aortic Valve; Biomechanical Phenomena; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; Collagen; Elastic Modulus; Heart Valve Diseases; Mechanical Phenomena; Myofibroblasts; Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type; Osteoblasts; Stress, Mechanical; Swine

Calcific aortic valve disease is associated with the differentiation of valvular interstitial cells (VICs) to myofibroblast and osteoblast-like cells, particularly in the fibrosa layer of the valve. Previous studies suggested that C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) protects against calcific aortic valve disease to maintain homeostasis. We aimed to determine whether CNP inhibits VIC pathological differentiation as a mechanism to explain its protective effects.. CNP expression was prominent in normal porcine aortic valves, particularly on the ventricular side, but reduced in sclerotic valves concomitant with the appearance of pathological VIC phenotypes in the fibrosa. In vitro, CNP inhibited calcified aggregate formation and bone-related transcript and protein expression by VICs grown in osteogenic conditions. Under myofibrogenic culture conditions, CNP reduced α-smooth muscle actin expression and cell-mediated gel contraction, indicating inhibition of myofibroblast differentiation. Similar to CNP, simvastatin inhibited VIC osteoblast and myofibroblast differentiation in vitro. Strikingly, simvastatin upregulated CNP expression in VICs cultured under myofibrogenic conditions, and small interfering RNA knockdown of natriuretic peptide receptor-b (a CNP receptor) significantly reduced the antifibrotic effect of simvastatin, suggesting that it acts in part via CNP/NPR-B autocrine/paracrine signaling.. CNP inhibits myofibroblast and osteoblast differentiation of VICs and is responsible in part for inhibition of VIC myofibroblast differentiation by statins, suggesting novel mechanisms to explain the protective effect of CNP and the pleiotropic effects of statins in the aortic valve.

Topics: Animals; Aortic Valve; Calcinosis; Cell Differentiation; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Heart Valve Diseases; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; Myofibroblasts; Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type; Osteoblasts; Receptors, Atrial Natriuretic Factor; RNA, Small Interfering; Signal Transduction; Simvastatin; Sus scrofa