| First Author | Krautter F | Year | 2022 |
| Journal | Atherosclerosis | Volume | 363 |
| Pages | 57-68 | PubMed ID | 36459823 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:350040 | Mgi Id | MGI:7412514 |
| Doi | 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2022.11.014 | Citation | Krautter F, et al. (2022) Galectin-9: A novel promoter of atherosclerosis progression. Atherosclerosis 363:57-68 |
| abstractText | BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Atherosclerosis is widely accepted to be an inflammatory disease driven by lipid accumulation and leukocyte recruitment. More recently, galectins, a family of beta-galactoside binding proteins, have been shown to play a role in leukocyte recruitment among other immunomodulatory functions. Galectin (Gal) -9, a tandem repeat type galectin expressed by the endothelium in inflammatory environments, has been proposed to promote leukocyte recruitment. However, the role of Gal-9 in the context of monocyte recruitment remains elusive. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here, we characterise the immunomodulatory role of Gal-9 in context of atherosclerosis. We show that ApoE(-/-)Gal-9(-/-) mice have a significantly reduced aortic plaque burden compared to their ApoE(-/-) littermate controls after 12 weeks of high fat diet. RNA sequencing data from two independent studies reveal Lgals9 expression in leukocyte clusters isolated from murine atherosclerotic plaques. Additionally, soluble Gal-9 protein induces monocyte activation and a pro-inflammatory phenotype in macrophages. Furthermore, we show that immobilised recombinant Gal-9 acts as capture and adhesion molecule for CD14(+) monocytes in a beta2-integrin and glycan dependent manner, while adhesion of monocytes to stimulated endothelium is reduced when Gal-9 is knocked down. Gal-9 also facilitates enhanced recruitment of leukocytes from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients compared to healthy young and aged controls. We further characterise the endothelium as source of circulating Gal-9, which is increased in plasma of PAD patients compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight a pathological role for Gal-9 as promoter of monocyte recruitment and atherosclerotic plaque progression, making it a novel target in the prevention of plaque formation and progression. |
