Smooth muscle cell-specific deletion of Col15a1 unexpectedly leads to impaired development of advanced atherosclerotic lesions

We report the first direct in vivo evidence that a smooth muscle cell (SMC)-produced collagen, collagen type XV (COL15A1), is critical for atherosclerotic lesion development. SMC Col15a1 knockout markedly attenuated advanced lesion formation, likely through reducing SMC proliferation and impairing multiple proatherogenic inflammatory processes.

Source: AJP: Heart and Circulatory Physiology - May 1, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Durgin, B. G., Cherepanova, O. A., Gomez, D., Karaoli, T., Alencar, G. F., Butcher, J. T., Zhou, Y.-Q., Bendeck, M. P., Isakson, B. E., Owens, G. K., Connelly, J. J. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research