Deficiency of Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Protects Against Atherosclerosis in Rabbits.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

CETP (cholesteryl ester transfer protein) plays an important role in lipoprotein metabolism; however, whether inhibition of CETP activity can prevent cardiovascular disease remains controversial.

Approach and results

We generated CETP knockout (KO) rabbits by zinc finger nuclease gene editing and compared their susceptibility to cholesterol diet-induced atherosclerosis to that of wild-type (WT) rabbits. On a chow diet, KO rabbits showed higher plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol than WT controls, and HDL particles of KO rabbits were essentially rich in apolipoprotein AI and apolipoprotein E contents. When challenged with a cholesterol-rich diet for 18 weeks, KO rabbits not only had higher HDL cholesterol levels but also lower total cholester

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5805397 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature