Disturbed flow induces reprogramming of endothelial cells to immune-like and foam cells under hypercholesterolaemia during atherogenesis.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Atherosclerosis occurs preferentially in the arteries exposed to disturbed flow (d-flow), while the stable flow (s-flow) regions are protected even under hypercholesterolaemic 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 it was not validated using a genetic lineage-tracing model. In addition, the combined effect of d-flow and hypercholesterolaemia has not been tested. Here, we tested and validated the two-hit hypothesis that d-flow is an initial instigator of partial FIRE but requires hypercholesterolaemia to induce a full-blown FIRE and atherosclerotic plaque development.

Methods and results

Mice we

SUBMITTER: Park C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12860475 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature