Atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the developed countries, is characterized by macrophage foam cell formation. We previously showed that CD36, a scavenger receptor highly expressed in macrophages, mediates oxidized-LDL uptake, contributes to intracellular cholesterol accumulation and foam cell formation, and regulates macrophage migration and pro-inflammatory signaling. Consistently,
cd36
deletion in mice protects from diet-induced atherosclerosis. Mechanistically, we discovered a novel signaling pathway, in which oxidized LDL (oxLDL) binding to CD36 activates Lyn kinase and initiates a cascade that is necessary for the pro-atherogenic cellular phenotype. How CD36 regulates Lyn kinase remains undefined. Since we previously showed that the Na/K-ATPase (NKA) regulates Src family kinases, including Lyn, we
hypothesized
that CD36 regulates Lyn kinase via an interaction with NKA. We used co-immunoprecipitation, FRET, and a novel cross linking assay to demonstrate that CD36 physically associates with NKA on the macrophage surface. Using a Lyn kinase activity assay, we showed that the interaction regulates Lyn kinase activity in response to oxLDL in macrophages. Moreover, a newly developed peptide inhibitor specifically blocked Lyn activation in response to oxLDL and attenuated oxLDL-stimulated cholesterol uptake (135.6±3.4 μM cholesterol/mg protein after 24 hours vs 173.8±7.7 μM cholesterol/mg protein in vehicle treated cells; p=0.0005; n=6). Taken together, we
conclude
that CD36 signals through NKA to regulate Lyn kinase activity in macrophages, which may be a molecular mechanism underlying cholesterol overloading and foam cell formation.
Tribbles Homolog 3 Promotes Foam Cell Formation Associated with Decreased Proinflammatory Cytokine Production in Macrophages: Evidence for Reciprocal Regulation of Cholesterol Uptake and Inflammation