FTIR protein secondary structure analysis of human ascending aortic tissues.

The advent of moderate dilatations in ascending aortas is often accompanied by structural modifications of the main components of the aortic tissue, elastin and collagen. In this study, we have undertaken an approach based on FTIR microscopy coupled to a curve-fitting procedure to analyze secondary structure modifications in these proteins in human normal and pathological aortic tissues. We found that the outcome of the aortic pathology is strongly influenced by these proteins, which are abundant in the media of the aortic wall, and that the advent of an aortic dilatation is generally accompanied by a decrease of parallel beta-sheet structures. Elastin, essentially composed of beta-sheet structures, seems to be directly related to these changes and therefore indicative of the elastic alteration of the aortic wall. Conventional microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy were used to compare FTIR microscopy results with the organization of the elastic fibers present in the tissues. This in-vitro study on 6 patients (three normal and three pathologic), suggests that such a spectroscopic marker, specific to aneurismal tissue characterization, could be important information for surgeons who face the dilemma of moderate aortic tissue dilatation of the ascending aortas. [GRAPHICS] Infrared spectroscopy and imaging was applied to analyse Human thoracic ascending aortas with the aim to highlight the protein secondary structure reorganisation after an aneurism outcome. We used a curve-fitting procedure to visualise modifications in the protein spectral profile where alteration of beta structures in pathological aortas could be detected. Our spectroscopic observations on tissue sections corroborated with confocal fluorescence microscopy clearly demonstrating that elastic fibres of aortic wall are strongly altered. Elastin appears as the privileged target during the pathological process. (C) 2008 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim