Barrett T B, Sampson P, Owens G K, Schwartz S M, Benditt E P
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Feb;80(3):882-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.3.882.
Although polyploid nuclei have long been known to be present in many adult human tissues, the ploidy of smooth muscle cells in human artery wall has never been determined. We measured DNA content in individual smooth muscle cell nuclei of artery wall specimens by two means: Feulgen microdensitometry and flow microfluorimetry. A significant percentage of nuclei were polyploid; most of these were tetraploid, although higher levels were also found. The frequency of polyploidy varied with age from less than 1% at birth to a mean of 7% in adult aortic, carotid, and iliac vessels. Atherosclerotic plaques had a lower tetraploid content than the underlying media, whereas normal intima was similar to the corresponding media. The increase in frequency of hyperploid smooth muscle cell nuclei correlates with the normal growth, development, and aging of human artery wall. We suggest that the regular existence of a subset of polyploid smooth muscle cells may indicate an important functional role for this phenotype.
尽管长期以来已知多倍体细胞核存在于许多成人人类组织中，但人类动脉壁中平滑肌细胞的倍性从未被确定过。我们通过两种方法测量了动脉壁标本中单个平滑肌细胞核的DNA含量：福尔根显微密度测定法和流式细胞荧光测定法。相当比例的细胞核是多倍体；其中大多数是四倍体，不过也发现了更高倍性的细胞。多倍体的频率随年龄变化，从出生时低于1%到成人主动脉、颈动脉和髂血管中的平均7%。动脉粥样硬化斑块中的四倍体含量低于其下方的中膜，而正常内膜与相应的中膜相似。超倍体平滑肌细胞核频率的增加与人类动脉壁的正常生长、发育和衰老相关。我们认为多倍体平滑肌细胞亚群的正常存在可能表明该表型具有重要的功能作用。
