Ficolin-2 amplifies inflammation in macrophage-smooth muscle cell cross-talk and increases monocyte transmigration by mechanisms involving IL-1β and IL-6.

ABSTRACT: Ficolin-2, recently identified in atherosclerotic plaques, has been correlated with future acute cardiovascular events, but its role remains unknown. We hypothesize that it could influence plaque vulnerability by interfering in the cross-talk between macrophages (MØ) and smooth muscle cells (SMC). To examine its role and mechanism of action, we exposed an in-vitro co-culture system of SMC and MØ to ficolin-2 (10 µg/mL) and then performed cytokine array, protease array, ELISA, qPCR, Western Blot, and monocyte transmigration assay. Carotid plaque samples from atherosclerotic patients with high plasma levels of ficolin-2 were analyzed by immunofluorescence. We show that ficolin-2: (i) promotes a pro-inflammatory phenotype in SMC following interaction with MØ by elevating the gene expression o

SUBMITTER: Macarie RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10632380 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature