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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2000;20:957.)
© 2000 American Heart Association, Inc.

Vascular Biology

Apoptosis and Regulation of Bax and Bcl-X Proteins During Human Neonatal Vascular Remodeling

Presented in part at the 71st Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, Dallas, Tex, November 10, 1998, and published in abstract form (Circulation. 1998;98[suppl I]:I-331).

Hyo-Soo Kim; Kyung-Kuk Hwang; Jeong-Wook Seo; So-Young Kim; Byung-Hee Oh; Myoung-Mook Lee; Young-Bae Park

From the Heart Research Institute, Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Pathology (J.-W.S.), Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to Young-Bae Park, MD, Professor, Heart Research Institute and Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea. E-mail parkyb{at}plaza.snu.ac.kr

Abstract—To verify that apoptosis is one of the possible mechanisms of neonatal vascular remodeling during the transition from fetal to neonatal circulation, we assayed for apoptosis and evaluated the expression of apoptosis-regulatory proteins in umbilical vessel versus ascending aorta, ductus arteriosus (DA) versus adjacent pulmonary artery and aorta, or aorta versus its branching arteries. Twenty-two umbilical cords (UCs), 6 DAs with adjacent aortas and pulmonary arteries, and 4 aortic arches with their branching great arteries were obtained from neonates. Smooth muscle cell (SMC) apoptosis in umbilical vessels was identified in all UCs. The expressions of Bax and Bcl-X were stronger in umbilical artery than in the neonatal aorta, but Bcl-2 was weak in both arteries in immunohistochemistry. In the immunoblot analysis of UCs, the expression of the proapoptotic short isoform of Bcl-X was stronger than in other tissue, and caspase-3 was selectively activated, whereas it was not in the other components of the cardiovascular system. In contrast, the expression patterns of the FasAg and Fas ligand were similar in umbilical artery and aorta. Regulation of Bcl-2 family proteins was also observed in other vascular sites at which SMCs undergo apoptosis on hemodynamic changes during birth, such as the DA and the branching points of the great arteries from the aortic arch. Apoptosis is involved in the regression of human umbilical vessels and the DA and in the remodeling of the branching great arteries during the neonatal period, when Bcl-2 family proteins are likely to play a key role.

Key Words: apoptosis • umbilical vessels • ductus arteriosus • Bax • Bcl-2

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