pr-957 and Aortic-Aneurysm--Abdominal

Topics: Animals; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal; Macrophages; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Knockout, ApoE; NF-kappa B; Oligopeptides; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Proteasome Inhibitors; Pyroptosis; RNA, Messenger

Low-molecular mass protein 7 (LMP7) is a proteolytic subunit of the immunoproteasome that is involved in regulating inflammatory responses. However, the role of LMP7 in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) remains unknown. In this study, ApoE knockout (KO) or LMP7/ApoE double KO (dKO) mice were infused with angiotensin II (Ang II, 1000 ng/kg per minute) for up to 28 d. We found that LMP7 expression was significantly upregulated in AAA tissues from ApoE KO mice and human patients. Moreover, Ang II infusion markedly increased the incidence and severity of AAA in ApoE KO mice, which was considerably reduced in LMP7/ApoE dKO mice. Histological alterations, including aortic wall thickening, collagen deposition, elastin fragmentation, and vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis in AAA tissue of ApoE KO mice, were also significantly attenuated in LMP7/ApoE dKO mice. Interestingly, LMP7/ApoE dKO mice showed a marked reduction of infiltration of CD3

Topics: Animals; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal; Biocatalysis; Inflammation; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Oligopeptides; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Proteasome Inhibitors; Th1 Cells; Th17 Cells