Shuning Huang1,2, Dmitriy Atochin3, Guangping Dai2, Alexei Bogdano4, Paul L. Huang3, Bruce R. Rosen1,2, Young Ro Kim2
1Health Science and Technology, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA; 2Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH, Charlestown, MA, USA; 33CVRC, Department of Cardiology, MGH, Charlestown, MA, USA; 4Medical School, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA, USA
Endothelia-derived nitric oxide plays an important role in regulating vascular tone and maintaining blood pressure. eNOS knockout mouse model has been extensively used to study eNOS function in various cerebrovascular diseases. Understanding baseline changes of vascular parameters in eNOS knockout mice may further aid the investigation of eNOS functions under pathological conditions including hypertension. In this study, we established baseline MR-derived cerebrovascular parameters in eNOS knockout mice, and demonstrated that eNOS can affect both vascular geometry and function under normal physiological conditions.