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  • Title: Long-term stable expression of human apolipoprotein A-I mediated by helper-dependent adenovirus gene transfer inhibits atherosclerosis progression and remodels atherosclerotic plaques in a mouse model of familial hypercholesterolemia.
    Author: Belalcazar LM, Merched A, Carr B, Oka K, Chen KH, Pastore L, Beaudet A, Chan L.
    Journal: Circulation; 2003 Jun 03; 107(21):2726-32. PubMed ID: 12742997.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies and transgenic mouse experiments indicate that high plasma HDL and apolipoprotein (apo) A-I protect against atherosclerosis. We used helper-dependent adenovirus (HD-Ad) gene transfer to examine the effect of long-term hepatic apoA-I expression on atherosclerotic lesion progression and remodeling in a mouse model of familial hypercholesterolemia. METHODS AND RESULTS: We treated LDL receptor-deficient (LDLR-/-) mice maintained on a high-cholesterol diet for 6 weeks with either a HD-Ad containing human apoA-I gene (HD-Ad-AI) or saline (control). HD-Ad-AI treatment did not affect plasma liver enzymes but induced the appearance of plasma human apoA-I at or above human levels for the duration of the study. Substantial amounts of human apoA-I existed in lipid-free plasma. Compared with controls, HDLs from treated mice were larger and had a greater inhibitory effect on tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 expression in cultured endothelial cells. Twenty-four weeks after injection, aortic atherosclerotic lesion area in saline-treated mice progressed approximately 700%; the rate of progression was reduced by >50% by HD-Ad-AI treatment. The lesions in HD-Ad-AI-treated mice contained human apoA-I that colocalized mainly with macrophages; they also contained less lipid, fewer macrophages, and less vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 immunostaining but more smooth muscle cells (alpha-actin staining) and collagen. CONCLUSIONS: HD-Ad-AI treatment of LDLR-/- mice leads to long-term overexpression of apoA-I, retards atherosclerosis progression, and remodels the lesions to a more stable-appearing phenotype. HD-Ad-mediated transfer of apoA-I may be a useful clinical approach for protecting against atherosclerosis progression and stabilizing atherosclerotic lesions associated with dyslipidemia in human patients.
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