Department of Cardiology, University of Heidelberg Heidelberg, Germany ; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research) Partner Site Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany.
Front Physiol. 2014 Aug 8;5:296. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00296. eCollection 2014.
The presence of adventitial inflammation in correlation with atherosclerotic lesions has been recognized for decades. In the last years, several studies have investigated the relevance and impact of adventitial inflammation on atherogenesis. In the abdominal aorta of elderly Apoe(-/-) mice, adventitial inflammatory structures were characterized as organized ectopic lymphoid tissue, and therefore termed adventitial tertiary lymphoid organs (ATLOs). These ATLOs possess similarities in development, structure and function to secondary lymphoid organs. A crosstalk between intimal atherosclerotic lesions and ATLOs has been suggested, and several studies could demonstrate a potential role for medial vascular smooth muscle cells in this process. We here review the development, phenotypic characteristics, and function of ATLOs in atherosclerosis. Furthermore, we discuss the possible role of medial vascular smooth muscle cells and their interaction between plaque and ATLOs.
几十年来，人们已经认识到动脉外膜炎症与动脉粥样硬化病变之间存在关联。在过去的几年中，有几项研究调查了动脉外膜炎症对动脉粥样硬化形成的相关性和影响。在老年 Apoe(-/-) 小鼠的腹主动脉中，动脉外膜炎症结构被描述为有组织的异位淋巴样组织，因此被称为动脉外膜三级淋巴样器官 (ATLOs)。这些 ATLOs 在发育、结构和功能上与次级淋巴样器官相似。有人提出内膜动脉粥样硬化病变和 ATLOs 之间存在相互作用，并且有几项研究可以证明中膜血管平滑肌细胞在这个过程中可能发挥作用。在这里，我们综述了 ATLOs 在动脉粥样硬化中的发育、表型特征和功能。此外，我们还讨论了中膜血管平滑肌细胞的可能作用及其在斑块和 ATLOs 之间的相互作用。
