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Ultrastructural, Elemental and Mineralogical Analysis of Vascular Calcification in Atherosclerosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2017

Ida Perrotta  and
Edoardo Perri
Ida Perrotta*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences (Di.B.E.S.T.), University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza) 87036, Italy
Edoardo Perri
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences (Di.B.E.S.T.), University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza) 87036, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. idaperrotta@yahoo.it
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Abstract

Over the past few decades, remarkable progress has been achieved in terms of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of atherosclerotic vascular calcification and the important role of matrix vesicles in initiating and propagating pathologic tissue mineralization has been widely recognized. Despite these recent advances, however, no definitive data are currently available regarding the texture and composition of the minerals that grow in the vessel wall during the course of the disease. Using different electron microscopy imaging and analysis, we demonstrate that vascular cells can produce and secrete more than one type of matrix vesicles which act as sites for initial mineral deposition independently of their structural features. Our results reveal that apatite formation in the atherosclerotic lesions of the human aorta occur through the deposition of amorphous calcium phosphate that matures over time, transforms into crystalline hydroxyapatite, and radiates towards the lumen of the vesicles, finally forming the calcified spherules. Elemental and mineralogical analyses also demonstrate that the presence of mature and stable amorphous calcium phosphate deposits in the affected tissues is linked to the incorporation of magnesium, which probably delay the conversion to the crystalline phase. Though more rarely, the presence of calcium oxalate crystals has been also documented.

Keywords

atherosclerosisvascular calcificationelectron microscopymatrix vesicles
Type
Biological Science Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , October 2017 , pp. 1030 - 1039
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2017 

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