Vascular response to intra-arterial injury in the thrombospondin-1 null mouse

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) is a multifunctional, extracellular matrix protein that has been implicated in the regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation, migration and differentiation during vascular development and injury. Vascular injury in wildtype and TSP-1 null mice was carried out by insertion of a straight spring guidewire into the femoral artery via a muscular arterial branch. Blood flow was restored after the muscular branch was ligated. The injury completely denuded the endothelium and caused medial distension of the vessel in a manner similar to coronary artery balloon-angioplasty. After 28 days, wildtype arteries showed consistent neointima formation with smooth muscle cell hyperplasia. Injured arteries from TSP-1 null mice showed similar neointimal lesions with no significant difference in the extent of neointima formation. Unexpectedly, a high incidence of thrombus formation was observed in the TSP-1 null vessels in a region close to the entry point of the guidewire into the femoral artery. Thrombus was never observed in the injured wildtype vessels. These results provide in vivo evidence that the extent of smooth muscle cell proliferation and neointima formation following endothelial denuding injury is not affected by the absence of TSP-1. Furthermore, our results provide novel evidence for the involvement of TSP-1 in controlling thrombus growth following intra-arterial injury in areas of predicted high turbulent flow.