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Fulltext Animal Models in Cardiovascular Research: Hypertension and Atherosclerosis

Leong XF, Ng CY, Jaarin K

Biomed Res Int, 2015;2015:528757.
PMID: 26064920 DOI: 10.1155/2015/528757

Hypertension and atherosclerosis are among the most common causes of mortality in both developed and developing countries. Experimental animal models of hypertension and atherosclerosis have become a valuable tool for providing information on etiology, pathophysiology, and complications of the disease and on the efficacy and mechanism of action of various drugs and compounds used in treatment. An animal model has been developed to study hypertension and atherosclerosis for several reasons. Compared to human models, an animal model is easily manageable, as compounding effects of dietary and environmental factors can be controlled. Blood vessels and cardiac tissue samples can be taken for detailed experimental and biomolecular examination. Choice of animal model is often determined by the research aim, as well as financial and technical factors. A thorough understanding of the animal models used and complete analysis must be validated so that the data can be extrapolated to humans. In conclusion, animal models for hypertension and atherosclerosis are invaluable in improving our understanding of cardiovascular disease and developing new pharmacological therapies.

Matched MeSH terms: Atherosclerosis/genetics
Fulltext Harnessing the Potential of CRISPR/Cas in Atherosclerosis: Disease Modeling and Therapeutic Applications

Siew WS, Tang YQ, Kong CK, Goh BH, Zacchigna S, Dua K, et al.

Int J Mol Sci, 2021 Aug 05;22(16).
PMID: 34445123 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168422

Atherosclerosis represents one of the major causes of death globally. The high mortality rates and limitations of current therapeutic modalities have urged researchers to explore potential alternative therapies. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system is commonly deployed for investigating the genetic aspects of Atherosclerosis. Besides, advances in CRISPR/Cas system has led to extensive options for researchers to study the pathogenesis of this disease. The recent discovery of Cas9 variants, such as dCas9, Cas9n, and xCas9 have been established for various applications, including single base editing, regulation of gene expression, live-cell imaging, epigenetic modification, and genome landscaping. Meanwhile, other Cas proteins, such as Cas12 and Cas13, are gaining popularity for their applications in nucleic acid detection and single-base DNA/RNA modifications. To date, many studies have utilized the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate disease models of atherosclerosis and identify potential molecular targets that are associated with atherosclerosis. These studies provided proof-of-concept evidence which have established the feasibility of implementing the CRISPR/Cas system in correcting disease-causing alleles. The CRISPR/Cas system holds great potential to be developed as a targeted treatment for patients who are suffering from atherosclerosis. This review highlights the advances in CRISPR/Cas systems and their applications in establishing pathogenetic and therapeutic role of specific genes in atherosclerosis.

Matched MeSH terms: Atherosclerosis/genetics*
Fulltext Fifteen new risk loci for coronary artery disease highlight arterial-wall-specific mechanisms

Howson JMM, Zhao W, Barnes DR, Ho WK, Young R, Paul DS, et al.

Nat Genet, 2017 Jul;49(7):1113-1119.
PMID: 28530674 DOI: 10.1038/ng.3874

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although 58 genomic regions have been associated with CAD thus far, most of the heritability is unexplained, indicating that additional susceptibility loci await identification. An efficient discovery strategy may be larger-scale evaluation of promising associations suggested by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Hence, we genotyped 56,309 participants using a targeted gene array derived from earlier GWAS results and performed meta-analysis of results with 194,427 participants previously genotyped, totaling 88,192 CAD cases and 162,544 controls. We identified 25 new SNP-CAD associations (P < 5 × 10-8, in fixed-effects meta-analysis) from 15 genomic regions, including SNPs in or near genes involved in cellular adhesion, leukocyte migration and atherosclerosis (PECAM1, rs1867624), coagulation and inflammation (PROCR, rs867186 (p.Ser219Gly)) and vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation (LMOD1, rs2820315). Correlation of these regions with cell-type-specific gene expression and plasma protein levels sheds light on potential disease mechanisms.

Matched MeSH terms: Atherosclerosis/genetics
The prevention and treatment of hypoadiponectinemia-associated human diseases by up-regulation of plasma adiponectin

Hossain MM, Mukheem A, Kamarul T

Life Sci, 2015 Aug 15;135:55-67.
PMID: 25818192 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2015.03.010

Hypoadiponectinemia is characterized by low plasma adiponectin levels that can be caused by genetic factors, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mutations in the adiponectin gene or by visceral fat deposition/obesity. Reports have suggested that hypoadiponectinemia is associated with dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperuricemia, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus and various cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies have highlighted several potential strategies to up-regulate adiponectin secretion and function, including visceral fat reduction through diet therapy and exercise, administration of exogenous adiponectin, treatment with peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonists (e.g., thiazolidinediones (TZDs)) and ligands (e.g., bezafibrate and fenofibrate) or the blocking of the renin-angiotensin system. Likewise, the up-regulation of the expression and stimulation of adiponectin receptors by using adiponectin receptor agonists would be an effective method to treat obesity-related conditions. Notably, adiponectin is an abundantly expressed bioactive protein that also exhibits a wide spectrum of biological properties, such as insulin-sensitizing, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic activities. Although targeting adiponectin and its receptors has been useful for treating diabetes and other metabolic-related diseases in experimental studies, current drug development based on adiponectin/adiponectin receptors for clinical applications is scarce, and there is a lack of available clinical trial data. This comprehensive review discusses the strategies that are presently being pursued to harness the potential of adiponectin up-regulation. In addition, we examined the current status of drug development and its potential for clinical applications.

Matched MeSH terms: Atherosclerosis/genetics
Fulltext Mitochondrial Respiration Is Reduced in Atherosclerosis, Promoting Necrotic Core Formation and Reducing Relative Fibrous Cap Thickness

Yu EPK, Reinhold J, Yu H, Starks L, Uryga AK, Foote K, et al.

Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2017 12;37(12):2322-2332.
PMID: 28970293 DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.117.310042

OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage is present in murine and human atherosclerotic plaques. However, whether endogenous levels of mtDNA damage are sufficient to cause mitochondrial dysfunction and whether decreasing mtDNA damage and improving mitochondrial respiration affects plaque burden or composition are unclear. We examined mitochondrial respiration in human atherosclerotic plaques and whether augmenting mitochondrial respiration affects atherogenesis.
APPROACH AND RESULTS: Human atherosclerotic plaques showed marked mitochondrial dysfunction, manifested as reduced mtDNA copy number and oxygen consumption rate in fibrous cap and core regions. Vascular smooth muscle cells derived from plaques showed impaired mitochondrial respiration, reduced complex I expression, and increased mitophagy, which was induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice showed decreased mtDNA integrity and mitochondrial respiration, associated with increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. To determine whether alleviating mtDNA damage and increasing mitochondrial respiration affects atherogenesis, we studied ApoE-/- mice overexpressing the mitochondrial helicase Twinkle (Tw+/ApoE-/-). Tw+/ApoE-/- mice showed increased mtDNA integrity, copy number, respiratory complex abundance, and respiration. Tw+/ApoE-/- mice had decreased necrotic core and increased fibrous cap areas, and Tw+/ApoE-/- bone marrow transplantation also reduced core areas. Twinkle increased vascular smooth muscle cell mtDNA integrity and respiration. Twinkle also promoted vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and protected both vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.
CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous mtDNA damage in mouse and human atherosclerosis is associated with significantly reduced mitochondrial respiration. Reducing mtDNA damage and increasing mitochondrial respiration decrease necrotic core and increase fibrous cap areas independently of changes in reactive oxygen species and may be a promising therapeutic strategy in atherosclerosis.

Matched MeSH terms: Atherosclerosis/genetics