Department of Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2664:317-331. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3179-9_20.
Vascular calcification is an active pathological process, characterised by cellular dysregulation and subsequent changes to the extracellular environment. In vivo detection of vascular calcification is only possible late stage via computed tomography, and there is no single biomarker for detecting progression of vascular calcification. There is an unmet clinical need to determine progression of vascular calcification in vulnerable patients. This is especially needed in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients where there is a correlation of cardiovascular disease with declining renal status. We hypothesised that the entirety of circulating components should be taken into consideration with vessel wall cells to determine real-time vascular calcification development. In this protocol we describe the isolation and characterisation of human primary vascular smooth muscle cells (hpVSMCs), and the addition of human serum or plasma to hpVSMCs in a calcification assay and analysis. The BioHybrid analysis of biological changes to in vitro hpVSMC calcification is reflective of in vivo vascular calcification status. We suggest this analysis can discriminate between CKD patient cohorts and has the potential for wider application for risk factor determination in CKD and the general population.
血管钙化是一个主动的病理过程,其特征是细胞失调和随后的细胞外环境变化。血管钙化的体内检测只能通过计算机断层扫描在晚期进行,并且没有单一的生物标志物可用于检测血管钙化的进展。在易发生血管钙化的脆弱患者中,存在着未满足的临床需求,需要确定血管钙化的进展情况。在慢性肾脏病(CKD)患者中,这种需求尤为迫切,因为心血管疾病与肾功能下降相关。我们假设,应将循环成分的整体与血管壁细胞一起考虑,以确定实时血管钙化的发展情况。在本方案中,我们描述了人原代血管平滑肌细胞(hpVSMCs)的分离和鉴定,以及在钙化测定和分析中向 hpVSMCs 中添加人血清或血浆。生物杂交分析体外 hpVSMC 钙化的生物学变化反映了体内血管钙化的状态。我们认为,这种分析可以区分 CKD 患者队列,并有可能更广泛地应用于 CKD 和一般人群的危险因素确定。