Changes in the Proteome of the Circle of Willis during Aging Reveal Signatures of Vascular Disease

Abstract

Approximately 70% of all strokes occur in patients over 65 years old, and stroke increases the risk of developing dementia. The circle of Willis (CoW), the ring of arteries at the base of the brain, links the intracerebral arteries to one another to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion. The CoW proteome is affected in cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, but changes related to aging have not been described. Here, we report on a quantitative proteomics analysis comparing the CoW from five young (2–3‐month‐old) and five aged male (18–20‐month‐old) mice using gene ontology (GO) enrichment, ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), and iPathwayGuide tools. This revealed 242 proteins that were significantly dysregulated with aging, among which 189 were upregulated and 53 downregulated. GO enrichment‐based analysis identified blood coagulation as the top biological function that changed with age and integrin binding and extracellular matrix constituents as the top molecular functions. Consistent with these findings, iPathwayGuide‐based impact analysis revealed associations between aging and the complement and coagulation, platelet activation, ECM–receptor interaction, and metabolic process pathways. Furthermore, IPA analysis revealed the enrichment of 97 canonical pathways that contribute to inflammatory responses, as well as 59 inflammation‐associated upstream regulators including 39 transcription factors and 20 cytokines. Thus, aging‐associated changes in the CoW proteome in male mice demonstrate increases in metabolic, thrombotic, and inflammatory processes.