Proteomic characterizationof the circle of Willis during aging

The Circle of Willis (CoW), the ring of arteries at the base of the brain, links the intracerebral arteries to one another to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion. The CoW proteome is affected in cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, but changes related to aging have not been described. Here, we report on a quantitative proteomics analysis comparing the CoW from five young (two-three-month-old) and five aged (18–20-month-old) mice.