Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2026
Quantification of Monocyte Transmigration and Foam Cell Formation from Individuals with Chronic Inflammatory Conditions
Published on: October 17, 2017
Circulating monocyte gene expression profiles associated with cardiac remodeling and incident heart failure in the
Tess E Peterson1,2, Virginia S Hahn3, Jingzhong Ding4
1Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA. tpeter@umn.edu.
Insights
Monocyte gene expression is linked to cardiac remodeling and heart failure risk. Specific gene PCCB and immunometabolism show potential for understanding non-ischemic heart failure.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Immunology
- Genetics
Background:
- The role of monocytes in non-ischemic heart failure (HF) and cardiac remodeling is not well understood.
- This study investigates monocyte gene expression in relation to cardiac metrics and HF incidence in a population free of ischemic heart disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify monocyte gene expression profiles associated with cardiac structure, function, and fibrosis.
- To assess the association between monocyte gene expression and the risk of developing incident heart failure.
Main Methods:
- Isolated circulating CD14+ monocytes from 1195 participants for microarray gene expression analysis.
- Utilized contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI for cardiac structure and function assessment.
- Employed multivariable regression and Cox regression for cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, respectively.
Main Results:
- Identified monocyte expression profiles linked to lymphocyte activation, cytokine production, phagocytosis, wound healing, oxidative stress, and cell migration.
- Monocyte expression of PCCB correlated with left ventricular strain, left atrial size, myocardial fibrosis, and incident HF.
- Mendelian randomization validated the association of PCCB expression with monocyte-specific cis-eQTLs.
Conclusions:
- Monocyte gene expression, reflecting inflammatory and resolving activities, is associated with subclinical cardiac remodeling and fibrosis.
- Monocyte expression of PCCB and its immunometabolism are promising targets for future research in non-ischemic heart failure.
Background:
The role of circulating monocytes in non-ischemic cardiac remodeling and heart failure (HF) is complex and unclear. We assessed monocyte gene expression profiles associated with cardiac imaging metrics and incident HF among participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis free of ischemic heart disease.
Methods:
Circulating CD14+ monocytes were isolated, and RNA was quantified using an Illumina microarray. Contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance was performed concurrently. We studied 12,369 transcripts mapping to 9,430 genes among 1195 community-based participants (mean age 69 ± 9 years; 52% female; 22% Black; 32% Hispanic). We used multivariable linear regression to estimate cross-sectional associations between monocyte gene expression levels and cardiac structure and function, adjusting for key confounders and risk factors. Cox regression was used to assess time to incident HF (n = 45 events over a median follow-up of 7.7 years).
Results:
Here we identify monocyte expression profiles associated with cardiac structure, function, and fibrosis that implicate lymphocyte activation, cytokine production, phagocytosis, wound healing, oxidative stress, and cell migration. Monocyte expression of PCCB was associated with left ventricular strain, left atrial size, myocardial fibrosis, and time to incident HF, and was validated using Mendelian randomization with peripheral monocyte-specific cis-eQTLs.
Conclusions:
In a community-based cohort, monocyte expression profiles reflecting both pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving activity, as well as tissue migration and homeostasis, are associated with subclinical cardiac remodeling and fibrosis. Monocyte expression of PCCB and related immunometabolism may be an especially strong candidate for future mechanistic investigation in non-ischemic HF.
More Related Videos
07:25Isolation of Macrophage Subsets and Stromal Cells from Human and Mouse Myocardial Specimens
Published on: December 17, 2019
08:51Application of Unsupervised Multi-Omic Factor Analysis to Uncover Patterns of Variation and Molecular Processes Linked to Cardiovascular Disease
Published on: September 20, 2024