Department of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Key Laboratory of Myocardial Ischemia, Ministry of Education, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Front Immunol. 2020 Jan 30;11:24. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00024. eCollection 2020.
Atherosclerosis is characterized as a chronic inflammatory response to cholesterol deposition in arteries. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), especially the oxidized form (ox-LDL), plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis by inducing endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction, attracting monocyte-derived macrophages, and promoting chronic inflammation. However, the mechanisms linking cholesterol accumulation with inflammation in macrophage foam cells are poorly understood. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a group of non-protein-coding RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides and are found to regulate the progress of atherosclerosis. Recently, many lncRNAs interfering with cholesterol deposition or inflammation were identified, which might help elucidate their underlying molecular mechanism or be used as novel therapeutic targets. In this review, we summarize and highlight the role of lncRNAs linking cholesterol (mainly ox-LDL) accumulation with inflammation in macrophages during the process of atherosclerosis.
动脉粥样硬化的特征是胆固醇在动脉中的沉积引发的慢性炎症反应。低密度脂蛋白（LDL），尤其是氧化形式（ox-LDL），通过诱导内皮细胞（EC）功能障碍、吸引单核细胞来源的巨噬细胞和促进慢性炎症，在动脉粥样硬化的发生和发展中起着关键作用。然而，胆固醇积累与巨噬细胞泡沫细胞中炎症之间的联系的机制尚不清楚。长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）是一组长度超过 200 个核苷酸的非蛋白编码 RNA，被发现可以调节动脉粥样硬化的进展。最近，许多干扰胆固醇沉积或炎症的 lncRNA 被鉴定出来，这可能有助于阐明其潜在的分子机制，或可作为新的治疗靶点。在这篇综述中，我们总结并强调了 lncRNA 在动脉粥样硬化过程中连接胆固醇（主要是 ox-LDL）积累与巨噬细胞炎症的作用。
