Published online before print October 16, 2003, doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000101182.89118.E5
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.
Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins |
Genetic Ablation of Caveolin-1 Confers Protection Against Atherosclerosis
From the Departments of Molecular Pharmacology (P.G.F., H.L., D.S.P., M.P.L.) and Cell Biology (P.E.S.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, and the Thrombosis Research Laboratory (N.N.T.), Otsuka Maryland Research Institute, Rockville, Md.
Correspondence to Philippe G. Frank and Michael P. Lisanti, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Golding 202, Bronx, NY 10461.
Objective— The development of atherosclerosis is a process characterized by the accumulation of lipids in the form of modified lipoproteins in the subendothelial space. This initiating step is followed by the subsequent recruitment and proliferation of other cell types, including monocytes/macrophages and smooth muscle cells. Here, we evaluate the potential role of caveolae membrane domains in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by using apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice as a model system.
Methods and Results— Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a principal structural protein component of caveolae membrane domains. To directly assess the in vivo role of caveolae and Cav-1 in atherosclerosis, we interbred Cav-1-/- mice with ApoE-/- mice. Interestingly, loss of Cav-1 resulted in a dramatic >2-fold increase in non-HDL plasma cholesterol levels in the ApoE-/- background. However, despite this hypercholesterolemia, we found that loss of Cav-1 gene expression was clearly protective against the development of aortic atheromas, with up to an 
70% reduction in atherosclerotic lesion area. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that loss of Cav-1 resulted in the dramatic downregulation of certain proatherogenic molecules, namely, CD36 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1.
Conclusions— Taken together, our results indicate that loss of Cav-1 can counteract the detrimental effects of atherogenic lipoproteins. Thus, Cav-1 is a novel target for drug development in the pharmacologic prevention of atheroma formation. Our current data also provide the first molecular genetic evidence to support the hypothesis that caveolar transcytosis of modified lipoproteins (from the blood to the sub-endothelial space) is a critical initiating step in atherosclerosis.
Key Words: caveolin • cholesterol • lipoproteins • HDL
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