on February 21, 2002
Published online before print February 21, 2002, doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000013388.03553.31
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Submitted on January 15, 2002
Accepted on February 4, 2002
Atherosclerosis in C3H/HeJ Mice Reconstituted With Apolipoprotein E--Null Bone Marrow
Weibin Shi ;
From the Department of Radiology and Cardiovascular Research Center (W.S.), University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the Department of Medicine and Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (W.S., X.W., K.T., J.W., Y.S., A.J.S.), University of California, Los Angeles.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jlusis{at}mednet.ucla.edu.
Abstract—Previous studies showed that reconstitution of atherosclerosis-susceptible C57BL/6 (B6) female mice with apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient (apoE-/-) bone marrow resulted in markedly increased atherosclerosis, despite the fact that plasma lipid levels were unchanged. To determine whether apoE-/- bone marrow would increase atherosclerosis in an atherosclerosis-resistant strain, female C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice were lethally irradiated and reconstituted with bone marrow from either C3H.apoE-/- mice or wild-type C3H mice. Four weeks after transplantation, the mice were fed an atherogenic diet for 12 weeks. We found that reconstitution of C3H mice with apoE-/- bone marrow resulted in a slight reduction in plasma apoE levels and a dramatic reduction in apoE and apolipoprotein B (apoB) in the aortic wall. Plasma apoB and cholesterol levels and atherosclerotic lesions at the aortic root remained unchanged. These data indicate that reconstitution of C3H mice with apoE-/- bone marrow has no effect on atherosclerosis susceptibility and apoE promotes accumulation of apoB in the vessel wall.
Key words: atherosclerosis • macrophages • bone marrow transplantation • apolipoprotein E • mice