Transcription Factor Zhx2 Deficiency Reduces Atherosclerosis and Promotes Macrophage Apoptosis in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Objective- The objective of this study was to determine the basis of resistance to atherosclerosis of inbred mouse strain BALB/cJ. Approach and Results- BALB/cJ mice carry a naturally occurring null mutation of the gene encoding the transcription factor Zhx2, and genetic analyses suggested that this may confer resistance to atherosclerosis. On a hyperlipidemic low-density lipoprotein receptor null background, BALB/cJ mice carrying the mutant allele for Zhx2 exhibited up to a 10-fold reduction in lesion size as compared with an isogenic strain carrying the wild-type allele. Several lines of evidence, including bone marrow transplantation studies, indicate that this effect of Zhx2 is mediated, in part, by monocytes/macrophages although nonbone marrow-derived pathways are clearly involved as

SUBMITTER: Erbilgin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6202168 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature