Wight T N
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Curr Opin Lipidol. 1995 Oct;6(5):326-34. doi: 10.1097/00041433-199510000-00013.
The vascular extracellular matrix is a collection of vastly different macromolecules organized by entanglement and cross-linking into a biomechanically active polymer that imparts regional tensile strength, viscoelasticity, and compressibility to the atherosclerotic lesion. Each component of the extracellular matrix possesses unique structural properties that determine its separate roles during atherogenesis. Not only does this matrix provide the architectural framework that influences the structural integrity of the lesion, but it also provides the milieu for vascular cells and participates in the adhesive, proliferative, and migratory events that characterize lesion development. The fact that different components of the extracellular matrix selectively bind plasma proteins, growth factors, cytokines, and enzymes implicate these molecules in the regulation of key metabolic events in the formation of the atherosclerotic plaque. The extracellular matrix can no longer be thought of as simply an inert structural mass, but rather as a collection of molecules that possesses the capacity to 'instruct' and 'transduce the information' that 'drives' events central to the atherogenic process. A more thorough understanding of the nature and properties of the vascular extracellular matrix and the factors that regulate its accumulation would seem to be a reasonable goal if progress is to be made towards alleviating this disease.
血管细胞外基质是由大量不同的大分子组成，这些大分子通过缠结和交联形成一种具有生物力学活性的聚合物，赋予动脉粥样硬化病变区域抗张强度、粘弹性和可压缩性。细胞外基质的每个成分都具有独特的结构特性，决定了其在动脉粥样硬化发生过程中的不同作用。这种基质不仅提供了影响病变结构完整性的架构框架，还为血管细胞提供了环境，并参与了表征病变发展的粘附、增殖和迁移事件。细胞外基质的不同成分选择性结合血浆蛋白、生长因子、细胞因子和酶，这一事实表明这些分子参与了动脉粥样硬化斑块形成过程中关键代谢事件的调节。细胞外基质不能再被简单地认为是一种惰性结构物质，而应被看作是一组具有“指导”和“传递信息”能力的分子，这些信息“驱动”着动脉粥样硬化过程核心的事件。如果要在缓解这种疾病方面取得进展，更深入地了解血管细胞外基质的性质和特性以及调节其积累的因素似乎是一个合理的目标。
