Aims
Vascular calcification/aging can cause different kind of serious diabetic vascular complications. High glucose could induce vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) calcification/aging and then lead to diabetes-related vascular calcification/aging. In this study, we investigated how information in the blood is transmitted to VSMCs and the mechanisms of VSMCs calcification/aging under hyperglycaemic conditions. Materials and
Methods
Transmission electron microscopy and molecular size analysis were used to assess the morphology and size of exosomes. Alizarin Red S staining and senescence-associated β galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining were carried out to detect calcification and senescence in VSMCs, respectively. Proteomics analysis was carried out to detect the different expression of exosomal proteins. Protein levels were measured by western blot analysis. Key findings: The
Significance
The data demonstrate that Notch3 is required for HG-HUVEC-Exo promoted VSMCs calcification/aging and regulates VSMCs calcification/aging through the mTOR signalling pathway.