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  3. NPRC deletion mitigated atherosclerosis by inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in ApoE knockout mice

NPRC deletion mitigated atherosclerosis by inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in ApoE knockout mice

  • Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2023 Aug 9;8(1):290. doi: 10.1038/s41392-023-01560-y.
Cheng Cheng # 1 2,  Jie Zhang # 1,  Xiaodong Li # 2,  Fei Xue 1,  Lei Cao 1,  Linlin Meng 1,  Wenhai Sui 1,  Meng Zhang 1,  Yuxia Zhao 1 3,  Bo Xi 4,  Xiao Yu 5,  Feng Xu 6,  Jianmin Yang 7,  Yun Zhang 8 9,  Cheng Zhang 10 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
  • 2 Department of Cardiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 110004, China.
  • 3 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, China.
  • 4 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
  • 5 Key Laboratory Experimental Teratology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
  • 6 Department of Emergency Medicine, Chest Pain Center, Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
  • 7 National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China. yangjianminsdu@163.com.
  • 8 National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China. zhangyun@sdu.edu.cn.
  • 9 Cardiovascular Disease Research Center of Shandong First Medical University, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China. zhangyun@sdu.edu.cn.
  • 10 National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China. zhangc@sdu.edu.cn.
  • 11 Cardiovascular Disease Research Center of Shandong First Medical University, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China. zhangc@sdu.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 37553374 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01560-y
Abstract

Previous studies suggested a beneficial effect of natriuretic Peptides in animal models of Cardiovascular Disease, but the role of natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPRC) in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (AS) remains unknown. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that NPRC may promote AS lesion formation and instability by enhancing oxidative stress, inflammation, and Apoptosis via protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. ApoE-/- mice were fed chow or Western diet for 12 weeks and NPRC expression was significantly increased in the aortic tissues of Western diet-fed mice. Systemic NPRC knockout mice were crossed with ApoE-/- mice to generate ApoE-/-NPRC-/- mice, and NPRC deletion resulted in a significant decrease in the size and instability of aortic atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE-/-NPRC-/- versus ApoE-/- mice. In addition, endothelial cell-specific NPRC knockout attenuated atherosclerotic lesions in mice. In contrast, endothelial cell overexpression of NPRC aggravated the size and instability of atherosclerotic aortic lesions in mice. Experiments in vitro showed that NPRC knockdown in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) inhibited ROS production, pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and endothelial cell Apoptosis, and increased eNOS expression. Furthermore, NPRC knockdown in HAECs suppressed macrophage migration, cytokine expression, and phagocytosis via its effects on endothelial cells. On the contrary, NPRC overexpression in endothelial cells resulted in opposite effects. Mechanistically, the anti-inflammation and anti-atherosclerosis effects of NPRC deletion involved activation of cAMP/PKA pathway, leading to downstream upregulated Akt1 pathway and downregulated NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, NPRC deletion reduced the size and instability of atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE-/- mice via attenuating inflammation and endothelial cell Apoptosis and increasing eNOS expression by modulating cAMP/PKA-AKT1 and NF-κB pathways. Thus, targeting NPRC may provide a promising approach to the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

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