Smooth muscle cell estrogen receptor alpha promotes arterial stiffness in the absence of estradiol

ABSTRACT Background Clinical evidence supports a greater impact of arterial stiffening in cardiovascular mortality in women versus men. Arterial stiffness increases across the menopausal transition, implicating a role of the loss of estrogens in arterial stiffening, but mediating mechanisms remain unclear. Methods The role of estradiol and smooth muscle cell (SMC) estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in arterial stiffening, by aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), was assessed in 3 models: (1) the loss of estradiol in young, female mice comparing sham surgery or bilateral ovariectomy (OVEX) ± estradiol, (2) the impact of sham versus OVEX surgery in young, female SMC-ERα-intact and SMC-ERα-knockout (KO) littermates, and (3) arterial stiffening during natural aging by comparing young and aged, female and male SMC-ERα-intact and SMC-ERα-KO littermates. Mechanistic pathways were assessed using histological assessment of aortic fibrosis and elastin degradation, aortic MMP expression, and atomic force microscopy. Results OVEX increased PWV and aortic medial fibrosis, with no impact on elastin integrity, in young female mice. Arterial stiffening and fibrosis were prevented in OVEX mice that were supplemented with estradiol. OVEX-induced arterial stiffening in SMC-ERα-intact female mice was prevented in SMC-ERα-KO littermates. In this model, OVEX was also associated with increased aortic medial fibrosis without changes in elastin integrity. Aging from 3 to 18 months significantly increased PWV in female and male SMC-ERα-intact mice. Aging-induced stiffening was fully prevented in female and partially prevented in male SMC-ERα-KO mice. SMC-ERα contributes to aging-associated arterial stiffening by sex-specific mechanisms, including elastin degradation in females and phenotypic changes in SMC stiffness and probability to form cellular adhesions in males. Circulating estradiol was significantly decreased in serum from aged compared with young female mice. Conclusions These findings support that SMC-ERα contributes to arterial stiffening in female and male mice in situations where the vasculature is exposed to low levels of estradiol.