| First Author | Wang HW | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | FASEB J | Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 3561-70 |
| PubMed ID | 18556458 | Mgi Jnum | J:140261 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3813179 | Doi | 10.1096/fj.08-108829 |
| Citation | Wang HW, et al. (2008) Deficiency of ROCK1 in bone marrow-derived cells protects against atherosclerosis in LDLR-/- mice. FASEB J 22(10):3561-70 |
| abstractText | Rho kinases (ROCKs) are serine-threonine protein kinases that regulate the actin cytoskeleton. Recent studies suggest that ROCKs also play an important role in cardiovascular disease. However, the isoform- and tissue-specific role of ROCKs in mediating this process is unknown. Using homologous recombination, we generated mutant mice harboring alleles with homozygous deletion of ROCK1 (ROCK1(-/-)). Most ROCK1(-/-) mice die perinatally. However, a few ROCK1(-/-) mice survive to adulthood, are phenotypically normal, and have no apparent compensatory changes in ROCK2. Using these ROCK1(-/-) mice, we show that ROCK1 in bone marrow-derived macrophages is critical to the development of atherosclerosis, in part, by mediating foam cell formation and macrophage chemotaxis. Lipid accumulation and atherosclerotic lesions were reduced in atherosclerosis-prone LDLR(-/-) mice, whose bone marrows have been replaced with bone marrows derived from ROCK1(-/-) mice. Bone marrow-derived ROCK1-deficient macrophages exhibited impaired chemotaxis to monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and showed reduced ability to take up lipids and to develop into foam cells when exposed to modified low-density lipoprotein. These findings indicate that ROCK1 in bone marrow-derived cells is a critical mediator of atherogenesis and suggest that macrophage ROCK1 may be an important therapeutic target for vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. |
