Project description:Atherosclerosis is characterized by thickening of the arterial wall and is the primary cause of the coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease, two of the most common causes of illness and death worldwide. One of the leading risk factors for development of atherosclerosis is familial hypercholesterolemia. Familial hypercholesterolemia is an autosomal dominant disorder, which is caused by mutations mainly located in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene. It is characterized by elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the presence of tendon xanthomas, and premature cardiovascular disease. Aim of this study was to find atherosclerotic markers in white blood cells of patients compared to healthy controls. None of these patients exhibited symptoms of atherosclerosis by standard diagnostic methods; however, transcriptome analysis of blood RNA indicated changes in ubiquitin proteolysis and cell adhesion system as expected in initiation steps of atherosclerosis. Experiment Overall Design: Five patients diagnosed with Familial hypercholesterolemia and five age, sex, BMI and smoking status matched controls contributed blood from which total RNA from white blood cells was isolated. RNA samples were analyzed using Affymetrix microarrays and two groups were compared for differentially expressed genes.
Project description:Atherosclerosis is the major cause of death in industrialized countries. This disease has initially been characterized as a lipid disorder, but current concepts argue for an inflammatory disease, which develops in the background of hypercholesterolemia and other risk factors. In response to initial events of atherosclerosis formation, such as LDL-deposition in the subendothelial space, monocytes and T cells interact with the vessel wall. However, little is known about the properties and the behavior of these cells in this context. Using familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) as a model we demonstrate substantial differences in the gene expression of freshly isolated human monocytes and T lymphocytes. In FH monocytes we found an increased uptake of oxidized LDL, elevated amounts of scavenger receptors and adhesion molecules, and differences in the regulation of intracellular lipoprotein metabolism compared to monocytes from healthy individuals. Furthermore, the monocyte subpopulation of CD14+/CD16+ cells is less frequent in FH but exhibits significantly higher levels of CD11c and CD29 which increases the likelihood for their transmigration through the endothelial layer. The presence of increased amounts of CD69 in T lymphocytes from FH patients suggests that these cells are more activated than control cells. Our results indicate that some important steps of atherosclerosis formation already take place in circulating blood cells which extends current atherosclerosis models to the plasma compartment. Keywords: atherosclerosis, T cells, Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Project description:Atherosclerosis is characterized by thickening of the arterial wall and is the primary cause of the coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease, two of the most common causes of illness and death worldwide. One of the leading risk factors for development of atherosclerosis is familial hypercholesterolemia. Familial hypercholesterolemia is an autosomal dominant disorder, which is caused by mutations mainly located in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene. It is characterized by elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the presence of tendon xanthomas, and premature cardiovascular disease. Aim of this study was to find atherosclerotic markers in white blood cells of patients compared to healthy controls. None of these patients exhibited symptoms of atherosclerosis by standard diagnostic methods; however, transcriptome analysis of blood RNA indicated changes in ubiquitin proteolysis and cell adhesion system as expected in initiation steps of atherosclerosis.
Project description:Atherosclerosis is the major cause of death in industrialized countries. This disease has initially been characterized as a lipid disorder, but current concepts argue for an inflammatory disease, which develops in the background of hypercholesterolemia and other risk factors. In response to initial events of atherosclerosis formation, such as LDL-deposition in the subendothelial space, monocytes and T cells interact with the vessel wall. However, little is known about the properties and the behavior of these cells in this context. Using familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) as a model we demonstrate substantial differences in the gene expression of freshly isolated human monocytes and T lymphocytes. In FH monocytes we found an increased uptake of oxidized LDL, elevated amounts of scavenger receptors and adhesion molecules, and differences in the regulation of intracellular lipoprotein metabolism compared to monocytes from healthy individuals. Furthermore, the monocyte subpopulation of CD14+/CD16+ cells is less frequent in FH but exhibits significantly higher levels of CD11c and CD29 which increases the likelihood for their transmigration through the endothelial layer. The presence of increased amounts of CD69 in T lymphocytes from FH patients suggests that these cells are more activated than control cells. Our results indicate that some important steps of atherosclerosis formation already take place in circulating blood cells which extends current atherosclerosis models to the plasma compartment. Experiment Overall Design: 23 T cells samples: 3 homozygous FH, 7 heterozygous FH, 13 control participants
Project description:Atherosclerosis is the major cause of death in industrialized countries. This disease has initially been characterized as a lipid disorder, but current concepts argue for an inflammatory disease, which develops in the background of hypercholesterolemia and other risk factors. In response to initial events of atherosclerosis formation, such as LDL-deposition in the subendothelial space, monocytes and T cells interact with the vessel wall. However, little is known about the properties and the behavior of these cells in this context. Using familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) as a model we demonstrate substantial differences in the gene expression of freshly isolated human monocytes and T lymphocytes. In FH monocytes we found an increased uptake of oxidized LDL, elevated amounts of scavenger receptors and adhesion molecules, and differences in the regulation of intracellular lipoprotein metabolism compared to monocytes from healthy individuals. Furthermore, the monocyte subpopulation of CD14+/CD16+ cells is less frequent in FH but exhibits significantly higher levels of CD11c and CD29 which increases the likelihood for their transmigration through the endothelial layer. The presence of increased amounts of CD69 in T lymphocytes from FH patients suggests that these cells are more activated than control cells. Our results indicate that some important steps of atherosclerosis formation already take place in circulating blood cells which extends current atherosclerosis models to the plasma compartment. Experiment Overall Design: 25 monocytes samples: 5 homozygous FH, 7 heterozygous FH, 13 control participants
Project description:Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease involving multiple biological mechanisms. A study aimed to identify changes in miRNA expression at early stages using a large swine model. 18 female pigs were studied, 9 with familial hypercholesterolemia and 9 normal controls. Plasma was collected at 3, 6, and 9 months of age. In vivo imaging and histopathology were performed to document the presence of coronary atherosclerosis. miRNA sequencing was carried out on plasma cell-free RNA. Results showed that circulating miRNA dynamics change over time during atherosclerosis development and specific DE miRNAs may be promising biomarkers for early detection of coronary atherosclerosis.
Project description:Affymetrix microarray (GeneChip microRNA 4.0) profilling of circulating miRNAs. We used miRNA arrays to profile miRNAs isolated from plasma from familial hypercholesterolemia patients with (FH-W_CCS) or without (FH-WO_CCS) coronary calcium score by computed tomographic angiography
Project description:Circulating microRNAs (miRNA) are relatively stable in plasma and are a new class of disease biomarkers. Here we present evidence that human high-density lipoprotein (HDL) transports endogenous miRNAs and delivers them to recipient cells with functional targeting capabilities. Highly-purified fractions of human HDL contain small RNAs, and the HDL-miRNA profile from normal subjects is significantly different than familial hypercholesterolemia subjects. miRNAs were demonstrated to associate with both native and reconstituted HDL particles, and reconstituted HDL injected into mice retrieved distinct miRNA profiles from normal and atherogenic models. Cellular export of miRNAs to HDL was demonstrated to be regulated by neutral sphingomyelinase. HDL-mediated delivery of miRNAs to recipient cells was demonstrated to be scavenger receptor BI-dependent. Furthermore, HDL delivery of both exogenous and endogenous miRNAs resulted in the direct targeting of mRNA reporters. Notably, HDL-miRNA from atherosclerotic subjects induced differential gene expression, with significant loss of conserved mRNA targets in cultured hepatocytes. Collectively, these observations suggest that HDL participates in a novel mechanism of intercellular communication involving the transport and delivery of miRNAs. Gene expression changes in human Huh7 cells with familial hypercholesterolemia HDL treatment. Gene expression (mRNA) profiles in human Huh7 cells treated with normal HDL (n=3) or FH HDL (n=3) in lipoprotein-depleted serum (48h).