Abstract

We have previously shown that treating atherosclerosis with bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) affects the presence of macrophage subtypes in vitro, however it remains unknown whether BMP-7 treatment affects development and progression of atherosclerosis in vivo at an early and mid-stage of the disease. We therefore performed a Day 5 (D5) and Day 28 (D28) study to examine BMP-7's potential to affect monocyte differentiation. Atherosclerotic plaque formation was developed using our standard method and ApoE-/- mice were sacrificed at D5 and D28 post-surgery. Treatment animals received intravenous injections of BMP-7 at 200µg/kg of bodyweight. Hematoxylin and Eosin morphological stain shows that BMP-7 is capable of significantly reducing plaque accumulation at D28 post-surgery vs. PLCA group, p < 0.05. At D5, plaque formation was reduced but not significant. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to determine BMP-7's effect on monocytes (CD14), inflammatory M1 (iNOS) and anti-inflammatory M2 (CD206, Arginase-1) macrophages. Immunohistochemistry results show BMP-7 administration reduced pro-inflammatory monocytes and M1 macrophages at D5 and D28 compared to PLCA animals; however, monocytes were not statistically lower at D28. The anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage population was significantly less in PLCA animals compared to SHAM animals at D5 and D28. There was no significant difference in M2 macrophages between PLCA and PLCA + BMP7 animals at D5, however, by D28, PLCA + BMP7 animals showed a significant increase in M2 macrophages compared to PLCA animals. Western blot analysis confirms a significant increase in pro-survival kinase ERK and a significant reduction in pro-inflammatory kinases p38 and JNK in BMP-7 treated mice (D5 and D28, p < 0.05). ELISA showed a significant reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, MCP-1, and TNF-? (D5 and D28, p < 0.05) and a significant increase in anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in BMP-7 treated mice (D5 and D28, p < 0.05). In summary, our data indicate BMP-7 treatment induces monocyte to M2 macrophage differentiation, increases anti-inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-1ra and IL-10), and improves blow flow velocity (D5 and D28, p < 0.05) compared to untreated animals. The mechanisms of monocyte to M2 macrophage differentiation appear to be mediated by the p38, JNK, and ERK pathways. This study suggests BMP-7 is capable of reducing inflammation and slowing progression of atherosclerosis at both an early and mid-stage of the disease.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2016

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Singla, Dinender

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Medicine

Department

Molecular Biology and Microbiology

Degree Program

Biotechnology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0006504

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0006504

Language

English

Release Date

December 2016

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Included in

Biotechnology Commons

Share

COinS