Syndecan-1 Is Overexpressed in Human Thoracic Aneurysm but Is Dispensable for the Disease Progression in a Mouse Model

Sara Zalghout; Sophie Vo; Véronique Arocas; Soumaya Jadoui; Eva Hamade; Bassam Badran; Olivier Oudar; Nathalie Charnaux; Dan Longrois; Yacine Boulaftali; Marie-Christine Bouton; Benjamin Richard

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.839743

Syndecan-1 Is Overexpressed in Human Thoracic Aneurysm but Is Dispensable for the Disease Progression in a Mouse Model

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Apr 25:9:839743. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.839743. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sara Zalghout^{1

2

3}, Sophie Vo^{1

4}, Véronique Arocas^{1

5}, Soumaya Jadoui^{1

4}, Eva Hamade³, Bassam Badran³, Olivier Oudar^{1

4}, Nathalie Charnaux^{1

4}, Dan Longrois^{1

5}, Yacine Boulaftali^{1

5}, Marie-Christine Bouton^{1

5}, Benjamin Richard^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ LVTS, INSERM, U1148, Paris, France.
² Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse, France.
³ Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Faculty of Sciences-I, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁴ Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Bobigny, France.
⁵ Université de Paris, Paris, France.

Abstract

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) pooling has long been considered as one of the histopathological characteristics defining thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) together with smooth muscle cells (SMCs) apoptosis and elastin fibers degradation. However, little information is known about GAGs composition or their potential implication in TAA pathology. Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan that is implicated in extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction and assembly, regulation of SMCs phenotype, and various aspects of inflammation in the vascular wall. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether SDC-1 expression was regulated in human TAA and to analyze its role in a mouse model of this disease. In the current work, the regulation of SDC-1 was examined in human biopsies by RT-qPCR, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. In addition, the role of SDC-1 was evaluated in descending TAA in vivo using a mouse model combining both aortic wall weakening and hypertension. Our results showed that both SDC-1 mRNA and protein are overexpressed in the media layer of human TAA specimens. RT-qPCR experiments revealed a 3.6-fold overexpression of SDC-1 mRNA (p = 0.0024) and ELISA assays showed that SDC-1 protein was increased 2.3 times in TAA samples compared with healthy counterparts (221 ± 24 vs. 96 ± 33 pg/mg of tissue, respectively, p = 0.0012). Immunofluorescence imaging provided evidence that SMCs are the major cell type expressing SDC-1 in TAA media. Similarly, in the mouse model used, SDC-1 expression was increased in TAA specimens compared to healthy samples. Although its protective role against abdominal aneurysm has been reported, we observed that SDC-1 was dispensable for TAA prevalence or rupture. In addition, SDC-1 deficiency did not alter the extent of aortic wall dilatation, elastin degradation, collagen deposition, or leukocyte recruitment in our TAA model. These findings suggest that SDC-1 could be a biomarker revealing TAA pathology. Future investigations could uncover the underlying mechanisms leading to regulation of SDC-1 expression in TAA.

Keywords: Syndecan-1; aneurysm; extracellular matrix; proteoglycan; smooth muscle cell (SMC).