The emerging cellular pathobiology of atherosclerosis.

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief coordinated overview of the recent results of research at the artery cell level which appear to have the greatest impact on the rapidly improving understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in humans. The majority of these studies have employed in vitro methods and utilized the tools of modern cellular and molecular biology. These include microdissection; cell separation; tissue or cell culture; enzyme, lipid and protein chemistry as well as immunochemistry, ultrastructural visualization, cell organelle and membrane fractionation and the use of genetic markers. With these tools it is possible to study the interaction of the major space-occupying cells of the atherosclerotic plaque (especially the arterial smooth muscle cells) with many of the blood components, especially the lipoproteins and the other serum factors that appear to influence cell division. This direction of study appears to usher in a new era of atherosclerosis research.