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PECAM-1/CD31 in infarction and longevity
Florinda Listì1, Calogero Caruso, Carmela Rita Balistreri
1Gruppo di Studio sull'Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Corso Tukory 211, 90134 Palermo, Italy. flisti@unipa.it
Insights
Investigating Platelet Endothelial Cellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in relation to myocardial infarction (MI) risk, this study found no significant association in an Italian population. These findings suggest PECAM-1/CD31 variants do not confer MI susceptibility in this group.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Inflammation is integral to atherosclerosis pathogenesis, with inflammatory genes as key risk factors.
- Cellular adhesion molecules mediate inflammatory cell recruitment and transendothelial migration, crucial early steps in atherogenesis.
- Platelet Endothelial Cellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) plays a role in cell migration and has been linked to atherosclerosis development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate previous findings on PECAM-1/CD31 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and myocardial infarction (MI) risk.
- To investigate the association of specific PECAM-1/CD31 gene variants with MI susceptibility in a centenarian cohort.
- To determine if genetic variants linked to MI are absent in individuals predisposed to longevity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of PECAM-1/CD31 gene polymorphisms (Val125Leu, Asn563Ser, Gly670Arg) in patients with MI, healthy controls, and centenarian men.
- Comparison of SNP frequencies across the studied groups.
- Utilizing a homogeneous Sicilian population for genetic analysis.
Main Results:
- Previous findings indicated a higher frequency of the Gly670Arg polymorphism in MI patients, but not Val125Leu or Asn563Ser.
- No significant differences in the distribution of analyzed PECAM-1/CD31 SNP were observed among male MI patients, male controls, and male centenarians.
- The genetic background favoring longevity did not exclude alleles associated with MI susceptibility in centenarians.
Conclusions:
- The studied PECAM-1/CD31 single nucleotide polymorphisms do not appear to confer susceptibility to myocardial infarction in the investigated Italian population.
- Results do not support a significant role for these specific PECAM-1/CD31 variants in MI risk within this cohort.
- Further research may be needed to explore other genetic factors influencing MI susceptibility and longevity.
Abstract:
Inflammation has recently proven to be associated with the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and inflammatory genes are good candidates for the risk of developing atherosclerosis. The early phase of atherosclerosis involves the recruitment of inflammatory cells from the circulation and their transendothelial migration. This process is mainly mediated by cellular adhesion molecules, which are expressed by the vascular endothelium and by circulating leukocytes in response to several inflammatory stimuli. Adhesion of circulating cells to the arterial surface is among the first detectable events in atherogenesis. Cellular adhesion molecules, expressed by the vascular endothelium and by circulating leukocytes, mediate cell recruitment and their transendothelial migration. Platelet endothelial cellular adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31), involved in this migration, has been associated with the developmental course of atherosclerosis. Studies have investigated an association between coronary heart disease (CHD) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) located in functionally important domains of the PECAM-1/CD31 gene, with contrasting results. In particular, we previously analyzed for the following PECAM-1/CD31 SNP: Val125Leu, Asn563Ser, and Gly670Arg. The frequency of the Gly670Arg polymorphism was significantly higher in patients with myocardial infarction (MI), whereas the frequencies of the other two SNP (Leu125Val and Ser563Asn) were not significantly different between patients and controls. To check the validity of our results, we have analyzed the distribution of these SNP in centenarian men (age >99) from our homogeneous Sicilian population, since our previous studies have demonstrated that alleles associated with MI susceptibility are not included in the genetic background favoring longevity. We showed, as regard to polymorphisms of PECAM-1/CD31, that there were no significant differences between male patients affected by MI, male controls, and male centenarians. According to our hypothesis present results seemingly do not support a role for these SNP in conferring the susceptibility to MI at least in this Italian population.
