Background:
Atherosclerosis and its complications (myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral vascular disease) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Despite considerable efforts, the underlying pathomechanisms remain incompletely understood. In this study, we examined the role of a matricellular protein termed CCN3 in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Methods and Results:
To investigate whether CCN3 deficiency affects the development of atherosclerosis, control (ApoE-/-) and CCN3/ApoE double knockout mice were subjected to high fat diet feeding. In response to 16-week high fat diet feeding, the aortas of CCN3/ApoE double knockout (DKO) mice demonstrated exquisite susceptibility to atherosclerosis formation as evidenced by significantly increased size of aortic lipid-rich plaques in aortic roots, arch, thoracic and abdominal aorta. Concomitant with this, the atherosclerosis phenotype of DKO mice was manifested as follows: (1) a profoundly enhanced immune cell infiltration; (2) significantly increased expression of inflammatory markers; (3) heightened reactive oxygen species generation. Next, to address the cellular contributor(s) within or outside of the vessel wall responsible for the atherosclerosis phenotype, we performed reciprocal bone marrow transplantation (BMT) experiments. Transplantation of DKO bone marrow to ApoE-/- mice resulted in an increase of atherosclerosis formation, while transplantation of ApoE-/- marrow to DKO mice caused a reduction of atherosclerosis. These results indicate CCN3 deficiency in the bone marrow plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. Mechanistically, our cell-based studies in isolated macrophages demonstrated that CCN3 deficiency leads to an increase of lipid uptake and foam cell formation, an effect attributed to the modulation of key factors (e.g., increase of CD36, decrease of ABCG1) involved in lipoprotein transport.
Conclusion:
These results demonstrate bone marrow-derived CCN3 as an essential regulator of atherosclerosis and suggest the potential for future therapeutic strategies by manipulating CCN3 levels.