11. Distribution of Plaque Markers Distinguish Advanced-Stable from Ruptured Plaque 479 235 714 1,190 Px 3,892 3,771 7,663 23,719 Total 3,301 3,499 6,800 22,184 Tx 92 1 93 191 Lipid 20 29 49 118 GC/MS 0 7 7 36 AAA Up in Ruptured Up in Stable Number of markers Number of analytes Platform
21. Canonical Signaling Pathway Analysis : Cellular immune response Highest Tx significance: Role of NFAT in Regulation of the Immune Response (p=3.11E-10)
30. Acute Phase Response Signaling: Proteins Only Likely binding partners are integrins ITGAM & ITGB2 Origin of many of these proteins likely hepatic (outside of plaques)
KEY POINT: Majority of pathway analysis from the pink box; some specific pathway observations checked against cell type analysis
KEY POINT: Sets up integrin story Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: starting slide for integrin story, sets up slides for the three sub-stories (integrin receptor, cytoskeletal rearrangements, ILK/PI3K/WNT signaling) MD/Maastricht: they have published on the integrins before; good candidates for imaging
KEY POINT: genes/proteins generally agree (down in R/S) Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: differential use of alpha/beta subunits in ruptured vs. stable plaque indicate differential upstream & downstream signaling Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: likely loss of cytoskeletal structures in ruptured plaque, loss of internal focal adhesion. Consistent in Px & Tx Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities Striking agreement among both proteins and transcripts for actin, alpha-actinin, talin (all complexes) and vinculin. This is suggestive of a weakening of the actin cytoskeleton in ruptured plaques, possibly due to integrin signaling.
KEY POINT: Differential integrin receptor use and secondary messenger use promotes WNT signaling in plaques while demoting PI3K signaling & growth factor signaling. Again both Px & Tx story. WNT signaling, however, is generally downregulated despite contributions from GSK3B. Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: majority of response in transcripts—many of these are low copy number analytes Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities NFAT = Nuclear factor of activated T-cells
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities Many may be lymphocyte specific
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: Dominated by transcripts; TNF receptor 11B (Osteoprotegerin) is a possible decoy receptor but downregulation may contribute to calcification. Other TNF receptors (1A, 1B) are pro-apoptic. All three are part of the “TNFR” cluster. MD/Maastricht: t-cells also invade from circulation and proliferate in the adventitia (low numbers relative to other cells would explain lack of Px)
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
Many proteins here from serum, hence synthesized by liver. MD/Maastricht: also proteins of local/plaque origin!
KEY POINT: proteomics response driven by hepatic origin
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: C3 has the integrin a/b partners ITGAM & ITGB2. Proteomics response driven by hepatic origin; cytoplasmic representation of proteins likely out of context; Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: differential response from the inflammatory (IL-1) route from the TGFb route (SMC migration). Mostly a Tx response due to low copy numbers. Note differential enrichment: IL-1 route (inflammation) up, TGFb route (vascular SMC migration) down! Most obsevation are for transcripts only (low expression levels).
NOT a strong protein response. Many of the transcripts seen are low-intensity transcripts (where is the crossover point?) –OR—they’re not made into proteins—OR—proteomics sample prep isn’t capturing everything that Tx sample prep is.
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities
KEY POINT: actin signaling down in ruptured; also implicated from integrin pathways. Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities MD/Maastricht: may be cell specific; not a general abnormality rendering stable more vulnerable
Observations from comparative analysis: Vervain All Modalities Note other than actin and PFN, hardly any of these proteins are components of the cytoskeleton