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Inflammatory Ly6Chi monocytes and their conversion to M2 macrophages drive atherosclerosis regression
Karishma Rahman, … , P’ng Loke, Edward A. Fisher
Karishma Rahman, … , P’ng Loke, Edward A. Fisher
Published June 26, 2017
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2017;127(8):2904-2915. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI75005.
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Research Article Cardiology Vascular biology

Inflammatory Ly6Chi monocytes and their conversion to M2 macrophages drive atherosclerosis regression

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Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and developing therapies to promote its regression is an important clinical goal. We previously established that atherosclerosis regression is characterized by an overall decrease in plaque macrophages and enrichment in markers of alternatively activated M2 macrophages. We have now investigated the origin and functional requirement for M2 macrophages in regression in normolipidemic mice that received transplants of atherosclerotic aortic segments. We compared plaque regression in WT normolipidemic recipients and those deficient in chemokine receptors necessary to recruit inflammatory Ly6Chi (Ccr2–/– or Cx3cr1–/–) or patrolling Ly6Clo (Ccr5–/–) monocytes. Atherosclerotic plaques transplanted into WT or Ccr5–/– recipients showed reduced macrophage content and increased M2 markers consistent with plaque regression, whereas plaques transplanted into Ccr2–/– or Cx3cr1–/– recipients lacked this regression signature. The requirement of recipient Ly6Chi monocyte recruitment was confirmed in cell trafficking studies. Fate-mapping and single-cell RNA sequencing studies also showed that M2-like macrophages were derived from newly recruited monocytes. Furthermore, we used recipient mice deficient in STAT6 to demonstrate a requirement for this critical component of M2 polarization in atherosclerosis regression. Collectively, these results suggest that continued recruitment of Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes and their STAT6-dependent polarization to the M2 state are required for resolution of atherosclerotic inflammation and plaque regression.

Authors

Karishma Rahman, Yuliya Vengrenyuk, Stephen A. Ramsey, Noemi Rotllan Vila, Natasha M. Girgis, Jianhua Liu, Viktoria Gusarova, Jesper Gromada, Ada Weinstock, Kathryn J. Moore, P’ng Loke, Edward A. Fisher

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Figure 3

Effect of CCR2 inhibition on atherosclerosis regression and M2 macrophage enrichment.

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Effect of CCR2 inhibition on atherosclerosis regression and M2 macrophag...
Effect of CCR2 inhibitor on the frequency of (A) total monocytes and (B) Ly6Chi and Ly6Clo monocyte subsets in the blood of recipient mice (vehicle, n = 2, and CCR2 inhibitor, n = 3). (C–E) Quantification of (C) lesion area, (D) the macrophage marker CD68, and (E) MR and MCP-1 staining in aortic arch plaques from Apoe–/– mice on 16-week WD (BL; n = 6) or 3 days after transplant into WT mice (regression environment) that were untreated (n = 6) or treated with vehicle (n = 5) or a CCR2 inhibitor (n = 6). For C and D: **P < 0.001 compared with BL using 1-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons testing. For E, ***P < 0.0001, CCR2 inhibitor group compared with vehicle group using unpaired t testing.
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