Disturbed Flow Induces Reprogramming of Endothelial Cells to Immune-like and Foam Cells under Hypercholesterolemia during Atherogenesis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Atherosclerosis occurs preferentially in the arteries exposed to disturbed flow (d-flow), while the stable flow (s-flow) regions are protected even under hypercholesterolemic conditions. We recently showed that d-flow alone initiates flow-induced reprogramming of endothelial cells (FIRE), including the novel concept of partial endothelial-to-immune-cell-like transition (partial EndIT), but was not validated using a genetic lineage-tracing model. Here, we tested and validated the two-hit hypothesis that d-flow is an initial instigator of partial FIRE but requires hypercholesterolemia to induce a full-blown FIRE and atherosclerotic plaque development.

Methods

Mice were treated with adeno-associated virus expressing proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 and a

SUBMITTER: Park C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11908347 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature