Aortic
dissection (AD) is one of the most frequent types of aortic
disease with extremely poor prognosis. The biological signaling gas
hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has exhibited protective effects
in various types of cardiovascular diseases. However, as a toxic,
colorless gas, the application of H2S is immensely hampered
due to the lack of ideal donors. In this article, a drug delivery
system with a H2S donor has been prepared. Meanwhile, the
donor could be deposed in a cysteine-containing environment to generate
H2S. The results indicate that the H2S donor
polymer nanomicelles mitigated the processive transformation of smooth
muscle cells effectively in a proper concentration range, which may
play a protective role in aortic dissection. In animal experiments,
the sustained-release H2S donor stimulated in the presence
of cysteine was found to demonstrate beneficial effects in a murine
model of aortic dissection and would likely become a potential target
of H2S therapy for cardiovascular diseases.