Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

With an increasing interest in the role of the monocyte-macrophage in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and as a progenitor of plaque intimal foam cells, a model for the study of foam-cell differentiation in an extravascular environment has been developed. Granulomas were induced in 25 normocholesterolemic (NC) and 28 hypercholesterolemic (HC) rabbits by the subcutaneous injection of 15 ml of 1% carrageenan. Granuloma tissue was harvested at 4, 7, 14, and 28 days and studied by light and transmission electron microscopy. Macrophages and foam cells were isolated by enzymic dispersion with collagenase and cultured for further characterization by scanning electron microscopy, nonspecific esterase (NSE), and oil red O (ORO) staining. Granuloma macrophages from NC rabbits were consistently ORO-negative, contrasting with those from HC rabbits which were strongly ORO-positive, even at 4 and 7 days. With an increasing duration of exposure to hypercholesterolemia, macrophages accumulated increasing amounts of stainable lipid, and in the 28-day HC granulomas, large foam cells distended by lipid inclusions accounted for 70% of the cells present. This model has established that NSE-positive macrophages in HC granulomas accumulate lipid and assume the morphologic characteristics of atheromatous intimal foam cells.
 ...
PMID:Evolution of foam cells in subcutaneous rabbit carrageenan granulomas: I. Light-microscopic and ultrastructural study. 396 33

Class A scavenger receptors (SR-A) have several proposed functions that could impact atherosclerosis and inflammatory processes. To define the function of SR-A in vivo, we created C57BL/6 transgenic mice that expressed bovine SR-A under the control of the restricted macrophage promoter, lysozyme (lyso-bSR-A). bSR-A mRNA was present in cultured peritoneal macrophages of transgenic mice and tissues that contain significant macrophages including spleen, lung, and ileum. Functional overexpression of SR-A was demonstrated in peritoneal macrophages both by augmented cholesterol ester deposition in response to AcLDL and enhanced adhesion in transgenic mice compared with nontransgenic littermates. To determine whether macrophage-specific expression of bSR-A regulated inflammatory responses, granulomas were generated by subcutaneous injection of carrageenan. Granuloma size was significantly increased in lyso-bSR-A transgenic mice compared with wild-type littermates [421 +/- 51 mg (n = 11) vs. 127 +/- 22 mg (n = 10), P < 0.001]. However, the larger granulomas in lyso-bSR-A transgenic mice were only associated with an increase in unesterified cholesterol, and not cholesterol esters. Furthermore, granulomas from transgenic mice had an increase in the number of macrophages within the tissue.Therefore, macrophage expression of bSR-A increased presence of this cell type in granulomas without enhancing the deposition of cholesterol esters, consistent with a role of the adhesive property of the protein.
 ...
PMID:Macrophage-specific expression of class A scavenger receptors enhances granuloma formation in the absence of increased lipid deposition. 1144 Nov 31

Increased matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP-12) has been implicated in atherosclerosis and many other inflammatory processes. To define MMP-12 functions in vivo, we generated transgenic rabbits that expressed human (h) MMP-12 gene under the control of a macrophage-specific promoter, the human scavenger receptor promoter. Two transgenic founder rabbits were found to have hMMP-12 transgene integration by Southern blot analysis. hMMP-12 mRNA was expressed in peritoneal and alveolar macrophages, and in tissues enriched in macrophages in transgenic rabbits. High levels of hMMP-12 protein were detected in the conditioned media of cultured peritoneal and alveolar macrophages from transgenic rabbits. Zymography showed that hMMP-12 secreted from macrophages possessed enzymatic activity toward beta-casein. To evaluate the expression of hMMP-12 in inflammatory sites, we used carrageenan-induced granulomas as an in vivo model for tissue macrophages and foam cells. Granuloma size in transgenic rabbits was significantly increased compared to that in control rabbits, and histological examination revealed that granulomas of transgenic rabbits were enriched in macrophages associated with increased hMMP-12 expression. We believe that this transgenic rabbit model with increased expression of hMMP-12 may become a useful model for further mechanistic studies of MMP-12 in inflammatory diseases and cancer invasion; it is also an ideal model for testing the in vivo action of MMP-12 inhibitors.
 ...
PMID:Macrophage-specific overexpression of human matrix metalloproteinase-12 in transgenic rabbits. 1535 3