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Cathepsins: a new culprit behind abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Yi WangChaoshu TangYanwen Qin
Published in: Regenerative medicine research (2013)
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a fatal disease defined as an abdominal aortic diameter of 3.0 cm or more, where the abdominal aorta exceeds the normal diameter by more than 50%. Histopathological changes of AAA mainly include extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling at the abdominal aorta wall, but there is lack of specific drugs to treat AAA. Recent studies have reported that lysosomal cathepsins could induce vascular remodeling and AAA formation by regulating vascular inflammation, medial smooth muscle cell apoptosis, neovascularization, and protease expression. Thus, cathepsins are expected to become a new therapeutic target for AAA treatment.
Keyphrases
  • abdominal aortic aneurysm
  • extracellular matrix
  • smooth muscle
  • abdominal aortic
  • aortic valve
  • pulmonary artery
  • poor prognosis
  • oxidative stress
  • optic nerve
  • coronary artery
  • case control
  • endothelial cells