Epigenome-Guided Analysis of the Transcriptome of Plaque Macrophages during Atherosclerosis Regression Reveals Activation of the Wnt Signaling Pathway

We report the first systems biology investigation of regulators controlling arterial plaque macrophage transcriptional changes in response to lipid lowering in vivo in two distinct mouse models of atherosclerosis regression. Transcriptome measurements from plaque macrophages from the Reversa mouse were integrated with measurements from an aortic transplant-based mouse model of plaque regression. Functional relevance of the genes detected as differentially expressed in plaque macrophages in response to lipid lowering in vivo was assessed through analysis of gene functional annotations, overlap with in vitro foam cell studies, and overlap of associated eQTLs with human atherosclerosis/CAD risk SNPs. To identify transcription factors that control plaque macrophage responses to lipid lowering in vivo, we used an integrative strategy – leveraging macrophage epigenomic measurements – to detect enrichment of transcription factor binding sites upstream of genes that are differentially expressed in plaque macrophages during regression. The integrated analysis uncovered eight transcription factor binding site elements that were statistically overrepresented within the 5′ regulatory regions of genes that were upregulated in plaque macrophages in the Reversa model under maximal regression conditions and within the 5′ regulatory regions of genes that were upregulated in the aortic transplant model during regression. Of these, the TCF/LEF binding site was present in promoters of upregulated genes related to cell motility, suggesting that the canonical Wnt signaling pathway may be activated in plaque macrophages during regression. We validated this network-based prediction by demonstrating that β-catenin expression is higher in regressing (vs. control group) plaques in both regression models, and we further demonstrated that stimulation of canonical Wnt signaling increases macrophage migration in vitro. These results suggest involvement of canonical Wnt signaling in macrophage emigration from the plaque during lipid lowering-induced regression, and they illustrate the discovery potential of an epigenome-guided, systems approach to understanding atherosclerosis regression

Statins promote the regression of atherosclerosis via activation of the CCR7-dependent emigration pathway in macrophages.

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) decrease atherosclerosis by lowering low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol. Statins are also thought to have additional anti-atherogenic properties, yet defining these non-conventional modes of statin action remains incomplete. We have previously developed a novel mouse transplant model of atherosclerosis regression in which aortic segments from diseased donors are placed into normolipidemic recipients. With this model, we demonstrated the rapid loss of CD68+ cells (mainly macrophages) in plaques through the induction of a chemokine receptor CCR7-dependent emigration process. Because the human and mouse CCR7 promoter contain Sterol Response Elements (SREs), we hypothesized that Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins (SREBPs) are involved in increasing CCR7 expression and through this mechanism, statins would promote CD68+ cell emigration from plaques. We examined whether statin activation of the SREBP pathway in vivo would induce CCR7 expression and promote macrophage emigration from plaques. We found that western diet-fed apoE(-/-) mice treated with either atorvastatin or rosuvastatin led to a substantial reduction in the CD68+ cell content in the plaques despite continued hyperlipidemia. We also observed a significant increase in CCR7 mRNA in CD68+ cells from both the atorvastatin and rosuvastatin treated mice associated with emigration of CD68+ cells from plaques. Importantly, CCR7(-/-)/apoE(-/-) double knockout mice failed to display a reduction in CD68+ cell content upon statin treatment. Statins also affected the recruitment of transcriptional regulatory proteins and the organization of the chromatin at the CCR7 promoter to increase the transcriptional activity. Statins promote the beneficial remodeling of plaques in diseased mouse arteries through the stimulation of the CCR7 emigration pathway in macrophages. Therefore, statins may exhibit some of their clinical benefits by not only retarding the progression of atherosclerosis, but also accelerating its regression

SBC2009-206571 BIOMECHANICAL MODELING OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC LESIONS IN APOE DEFICIENT MICE

INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular disease remains the principal killer in the western world despite major advances in treatment of its patients HISTOLOGY AND FEA Aortic arches and brachiocephalic arteries from six 42-56 weekold female and male ApoE KO mice maintained on a high fat diet were embedded in optimum cutting temperature compound (OCT). Frozen sections of 6 µm thickness were collected at 30-µm intervals and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Van Gieson, oil red O or Alizarin Red S. Quantitative analysis of plaque composition was performed by image analysis in ImageJ 1.4 (NIH). Cross-sectional geometries were traced to identify regions of fibrous plaque, normal vessel and lipid pool. Geometric and structural information from each tracing was exported to Finite Element software, ABAQUS, for biomechanical analysis of the lesions. The 2D histology based stress analysis was performed using an anisotropic material model RESULTS Our FE analysis predicts that the peak circumferential stresses (PCS) in all aortic lesions were significantly lower than maximum stresses in BCA plaques. The aortic PCS averaged 205.8 kPa, while cap stresses in BCAs had an average value of 568.8 kPa. The results of computational stress analysis for a representative aortic and BCA lesion shown i

Epigenome-guided analysis of the transcriptome of plaque macrophages during atherosclerosis regression reveals activation of the Wnt signaling pathway.

We report the first systems biology investigation of regulators controlling arterial plaque macrophage transcriptional changes in response to lipid lowering in vivo in two distinct mouse models of atherosclerosis regression. Transcriptome measurements from plaque macrophages from the Reversa mouse were integrated with measurements from an aortic transplant-based mouse model of plaque regression. Functional relevance of the genes detected as differentially expressed in plaque macrophages in response to lipid lowering in vivo was assessed through analysis of gene functional annotations, overlap with in vitro foam cell studies, and overlap of associated eQTLs with human atherosclerosis/CAD risk SNPs. To identify transcription factors that control plaque macrophage responses to lipid lowering in vivo, we used an integrative strategy--leveraging macrophage epigenomic measurements--to detect enrichment of transcription factor binding sites upstream of genes that are differentially expressed in plaque macrophages during regression. The integrated analysis uncovered eight transcription factor binding site elements that were statistically overrepresented within the 5' regulatory regions of genes that were upregulated in plaque macrophages in the Reversa model under maximal regression conditions and within the 5' regulatory regions of genes that were upregulated in the aortic transplant model during regression. Of these, the TCF/LEF binding site was present in promoters of upregulated genes related to cell motility, suggesting that the canonical Wnt signaling pathway may be activated in plaque macrophages during regression. We validated this network-based prediction by demonstrating that β-catenin expression is higher in regressing (vs. control group) plaques in both regression models, and we further demonstrated that stimulation of canonical Wnt signaling increases macrophage migration in vitro. These results suggest involvement of canonical Wnt signaling in macrophage emigration from the plaque during lipid lowering-induced regression, and they illustrate the discovery potential of an epigenome-guided, systems approach to understanding atherosclerosis regression

Cholesterol loading reprograms the microRNA-143/145-Myocardin axis to convert aortic smooth muscle cells to a dysfunctional macrophage-like phenotype

OBJECTIVE: We previously showed that cholesterol loading in vitro converts mouse aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from a contractile state to one resembling macrophages. In human and mouse atherosclerotic plaques it has become appreciated that ~40% of cells classified as macrophages by histological markers may be of VSMC origin. We therefore sought to gain insight into the molecular regulation of this clinically relevant process. APPROACH AND RESULTS: VSMC of mouse (or human) origin were incubated with cyclodextrin-cholesterol complexes for 72 hours, at which time the expression at the protein and mRNA levels of contractile-related proteins were reduced and of macrophage markers increased. Concurrent was down regulation of miR-143/145, which positively regulate the master VSMC-differentiation transcription factor myocardin (MYOCD). Mechanisms were further probed in mouse VSMC. Maintaining the expression of MYOCD or miR-143/145 prevented and reversed phenotypic changes caused by cholesterol loading. Reversal was also seen when cholesterol efflux was stimulated after loading. Notably, despite expression of macrophage markers, bioinformatic analyses showed that cholesterol-loaded cells remained closer to the VSMC state, consistent with impairment in classical macrophage functions of phagocytosis and efferocytosis. In apoE-deficient atherosclerotic plaques, cells positive for VSMC and macrophage markers were found lining the cholesterol-rich necrotic core. CONCLUSIONS: Cholesterol loading of VSMC converts them to a macrophage–appearing state by downregulating the miR-143/145-myocardin axis. Though these cells would be classified by immunohistochemistry as macrophages in human and mouse plaques, their transcriptome and functional properties imply that their contributions to atherogenesis would not be those of classical macrophages