Effects of Age, Sex, and Extracellular Matrix Integrity on Aortic Dilatation and Rupture in a Mouse Model of Marfan Syndrome

Researchers combined ex vivo biaxial mechanical testing with multimodality histological examinations to quantify expected age- and sex-dependent structural vulnerability of the ascending aorta in Fbn1C1041G/+ Marfan versus wild-type mice without and with four-week exposures to β-aminopropionitrile, an inhibitor of lysyl oxidase–mediated cross-linking of newly synthesized elastic and collagen fibers.