Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Lung Adenocarcinoma

Objective Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with lung adenocarcinoma(LUAD) is a pathological state that emerges during LUAD progression. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an important extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoprotein and may be an independent prognostic biomarker. Methods We collected chest enhanced CT scans from clinical LUAD patients, screen PAH based on the PA/A ratio. By analyzing the TCGA-LUAD, GSE140797 and VSMCPRG gene sets, we identified the gene sets related to PAH in LUAD.Additional, we analysis of pathological samples, serum samples, EdU cell proliferation assays, and measurements of pulmonary artery vascular contraction functions. Results 421 clinical patients were enrolled in this study.In the LUAD group ,the PA/A ratio ≥ 1 is significantly higher compared to both the Adenocarcinoma In Situ(AIS) group and the Benign nodule group.17 pathological samples revealed a significant upregulation of COMP in LUAD group compared to normal lung tissue.Serum samples showed significantly higher optical density (OD) values in the LUAD group compared to the other group.EdU experiment demonstrated that human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (HPASMC) co-cultured with COMP exhibited significantly higher proliferation rates compared to the control group.To assessing the effect of COMP on pulmonary artery vasculature, rat and human experiments indicated that the contraction force of the COMP group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Conclusions The findings suggest that LUAD patients may be associated with PAH, COMP may promote the development of PAH by enhancing the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and the contractile function of pulmonary artery vessels.