Macrophages, lipoprotein metabolism, and atherosclerosis: insights from murine bone marrow transplantation studies.
The macrophage expresses a variety of genes that may contribute to lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerotic lesion formation. Bone marrow transplantation experiments using gene-targeted mice, both as donors and recipients, provide a useful approach to examine the contribution of macrophage gene expression to lipoprotein metabolism and atherogenesis in vivo. This article describes recent insights into the role of macrophage expression of apolipoprotein E and the LDL receptor gained from bone marrow transplantation studies in the mouse.
D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D005487:Foam Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D011973:Receptors, LDL / Q000378:metabolism