Shi Yunmin, He Tian, Liu Hong, Li Xiaodong, Li Zhengxin, Wen Qing, Dai Zhaohui, Sun Xuejing, Tan Qian, Yang Wenjing, Jiang Youxiang, Liu Yuanyuan, Yuan Hong, Lei Fang, Yi Yang, Cai Jingjing
Department of Cardiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China.
Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, China National Ministry of Education), The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
Int J Biol Sci. 2025 Jan 1;21(1):433-453. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.97106. eCollection 2025.
Intimal hyperplasia (IH) remains a significant clinical problem, causing vascular intervention failure. This study aimed to elucidate whether gangliosides GA2 accumulated in atherosclerotic mouse aortae and plasma promote the development of IH. We identified that GA2 was remarkably accumulated in both artery and plasma of atherosclerotic patients and mice. Injected GA2 exacerbated IH and mainly co-stained with macrophages after mouse carotid arterial injury model. Intracellular GA2 induced pyroptosis accompanying the IL-1α release, which was blocked by caspase-11 knockout. Mechanistically, GA2 directly activated caspase-4 as a new ligand. And then, activated caspase-4/11 combined and cleaved BID, promoting the cytochrome C release to cytoplasm, which derived gasdermin E-medicated pyroptosis through activation of caspase-9-caspase-3 pathway. Mice transplanted with caspase-11 deficient bone marrow or mice with caspase-11 knockdown in macrophages exhibited an improvement of the IH aggravated by GA2. These findings suggest GA2-mediated caspase-4/11 activation drives macrophage pyroptosis, contributing to IH. Our results provide a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in IH.
内膜增生(IH)仍然是一个严重的临床问题,会导致血管介入失败。本研究旨在阐明积聚在动脉粥样硬化小鼠主动脉和血浆中的神经节苷脂GA2是否会促进内膜增生的发展。我们发现GA2在动脉粥样硬化患者和小鼠的动脉及血浆中均有显著积聚。在小鼠颈动脉损伤模型中,注射的GA2加剧了内膜增生,且主要与巨噬细胞共染色。细胞内的GA2诱导伴有白细胞介素-1α释放的细胞焦亡,而这一过程被半胱天冬酶-11基因敲除所阻断。从机制上来说,GA2作为一种新的配体直接激活半胱天冬酶-4。然后,激活的半胱天冬酶-4/11结合并切割BID,促进细胞色素C释放到细胞质中,通过激活半胱天冬酶-9-半胱天冬酶-3途径引发gasdermin E介导的细胞焦亡。移植了半胱天冬酶-11缺陷型骨髓的小鼠或巨噬细胞中半胱天冬酶-11基因敲低的小鼠,其因GA2而加重的内膜增生情况有所改善。这些发现表明,GA2介导的半胱天冬酶-4/11激活驱动巨噬细胞焦亡,从而导致内膜增生。我们的研究结果为内膜增生提供了一个潜在的诊断和治疗靶点。