ROLE OF LYVE-1+ MACROPHAGES IN ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM

Abstract

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a vascular inflammatory disease that remains mostly silent until it ruptures, resulting in severe blood loss and mortality. Tissue resident arterial macrophages, as identified by lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor 1 (LYVE-1) expression, play an integral role in modulating vascular homeostasis. Here, we demonstrate that LYVE-1+ macrophages are present in human aorta, and their losses is implicated along with clinical features of AAA. Using animal models of AAA, we dissect the mechanism to unravel the contribution of LYVE-1+ macrophages during AAA pathophysiology via maintaining the vasculature through vSMCs survival. The understanding of the crosstalk between LYVE-1+ macrophages and vSMCs may provide new therapeutic opportunities to target vascular inflammation such as AAA and other cardiovascular diseases.