MicroCT imaging reveals differential 3D micro-scale remodelling of the murine aorta in ageing and Marfan syndrome

Aortic wall remodelling is a key feature of both ageing and genetic connective tissue diseases, which are associated with vasculopathies such as Marfan syndrome (MFS). Although the aorta is a 3D structure, little attention has been paid to volumetric assessment, primarily due to the limitations of conventional imaging techniques. Phase-contrast microCT is an emerging imaging technique, which is able to resolve the 3D micro-scale structure of large samples without the need for staining or sectioning.J.L.-G. is supported by a Spanish Government predoctoral fellowship FPI (BES-2013-065962 and EEBB-I-16-11080), and by a Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds travel grant for her stay at Diamond synchrotron. The Manchester X-Ray Imaging Facility is funded in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [ESPRC] (grant numbers EP/F007906/1, EP/F001452/1 and EP/I02249X/1). This study was supported by grants SAF2015-64136-R and SAF2017-83039-R to G.E., and partially supported by grants TIN2014-52923-R, Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme/MDM-2015-0502, and FEDER to B.B. The Diamond Manchester collaboration awarded synchrotron beam time to the authors (session ID MT12199-1). C.D. was supported by an EPSRC & MRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) Regenerative Medicine (EP/L014904/1) studentship. P.W. is grateful for a European Research Council grant (Correl-CT grant No 695638). G.E. thanks Damelys Alejandra Fumero for her casual economic contribution to his research