Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, 80336 Munich, Germany.
Department of Angiology, Swiss Cardiovascular Center, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
Cells. 2021 Jan 25;10(2):226. doi: 10.3390/cells10020226.
Atherosclerosis is a long-term, chronic inflammatory disease of the vessel wall leading to the formation of occlusive or rupture-prone lesions in large arteries. Complications of atherosclerosis can become severe and lead to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with lethal consequences. During the last three decades, chemokines and their receptors earned great attention in the research of atherosclerosis as they play a key role in development and progression of atherosclerotic lesions. They orchestrate activation, recruitment, and infiltration of immune cells and subsequent phenotypic changes, e.g., increased uptake of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) by macrophages, promoting the development of foam cells, a key feature developing plaques. In addition, chemokines and their receptors maintain homing of adaptive immune cells but also drive pro-atherosclerotic leukocyte responses. Recently, specific targeting, e.g., by applying cell specific knock out models have shed new light on their functions in chronic vascular inflammation. This article reviews recent findings on the role of immunomodulatory chemokines in the development of atherosclerosis and their potential for targeting.
动脉粥样硬化是一种血管壁的慢性、长期炎症性疾病，可导致大血管中形成闭塞性或易破裂的病变。动脉粥样硬化的并发症可能变得严重，并导致心血管疾病（CVD），造成致命后果。在过去的三十年中，趋化因子及其受体在动脉粥样硬化的研究中引起了广泛关注，因为它们在动脉粥样硬化病变的发展和进展中发挥着关键作用。它们协调免疫细胞的激活、募集和浸润，以及随后的表型变化，例如巨噬细胞对氧化低密度脂蛋白（oxLDL）的摄取增加，促进泡沫细胞的形成，这是形成斑块的一个关键特征。此外，趋化因子及其受体维持适应性免疫细胞的归巢，但也驱动促动脉粥样硬化的白细胞反应。最近，通过应用细胞特异性敲除模型等特定靶向方法，为它们在慢性血管炎症中的作用提供了新的认识。本文综述了免疫调节趋化因子在动脉粥样硬化发展中的作用及其作为靶点的潜力。
