In vivo endothelial transcriptional profiles of porcine coronary and iliac arteries

Phenotypic heterogeneity among arterial ECs is particularly relevant to atherosclerosis since the disease occurs predominantly in major arteries, which vary in their atherosusceptibility. To explore EC heterogeneity, we used DNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles of freshly harvested porcine coronary and iliac artery ECs. We demonstrate that in vivo the endothelial transcriptional profile of a coronary artery (the right coronary artery) is intrinsically different from that of a major conduit vessel (the external iliac artery), and that this difference is consistent with former vessel being more prone to atherosclerosis. Keywords: coronary atherosclerosis, endothelial heterogeneity, microarray, gene expression Endothelial cells were freshly harvest from right coronary, left and right iliac arteries from four pigs. RNA were isolated and expression profiles were obtained using olig microarrays.