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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
A Simple and Efficient Method for In Vivo Cardiac-specific Gene Manipulation by Intramyocardial Injection in Mice
Published on: April 16, 2018
Anti-monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 gene therapy limits progression and destabilization of established
Shujiro Inoue1, Kensuke Egashira, Weihua Ni
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Background:
Monocyte infiltration into the arterial wall and its activation is the central event in atherogenesis. Thus, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) might be a novel therapeutic target against atherogenesis. We and others recently reported that blockade or abrogation of the MCP-1 pathway attenuates the initiation of atheroma formation in hypercholesterolemic mice. It remains unclear, however, whether blockade of MCP-1 can limit progression or destabilization of established lesions.
Methods And Results:
We report here that blockade of MCP-1 by transfecting an N-terminal deletion mutant of the MCP-1 gene limited progression of preexisting atherosclerotic lesions in the aortic root in hypercholesterolemic mice. In addition, blockade of MCP-1 changed the lesion composition into a more stable phenotype, ie, containing fewer macrophages and lymphocytes, less lipid, and more smooth muscle cells and collagen. This strategy decreased expression of CD40 and the CD40 ligand in the atherosclerotic plaque and normalized the increased chemokine (RANTES and MCP-1) and cytokine (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-1beta, and transforming growth factor beta(1)) gene expression. These data suggest that MCP-1 is a central mediator in the progression and destabilization of established atheroma.
Conclusions:
The results of the present study suggest that the inflammatory responses mediated by MCP-1 are important in atherosclerosis and its complications.
