TY - JOUR AU - Rodriguez, Karien J. AU - Piechura, Laura M. AU - Porras, Ana M. AU - Masters, Kristyn S. PY - 2014 DA - 2014/03/01 TI - Manipulation of valve composition to elucidate the role of collagen in aortic valve calcification JO - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders SP - 29 VL - 14 IS - 1 AB - Extracellular matrix (ECM) disarray is found in calcific aortic valvular disease (CAVD), yet much remains to be learned about the role of individual ECM components in valvular interstitial cell (VIC) function and dysfunction. Previous clinical analyses have shown that calcification is associated with decreased collagen content, while previous in vitro work has suggested that the presence of collagen attenuates the responsiveness of VICs to pro-calcific stimuli. The current study uses whole leaflet cultures to examine the contributions of endogenous collagen in regulating the phenotype and calcification of VICs. SN - 1471-2261 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2261-14-29 DO - 10.1186/1471-2261-14-29 ID - Rodriguez2014 ER -