Showing papers by "Rafal Pawlinski published in 2005"

Atherosclerosis in Mice Is Not Affected by a Reduction in Tissue Factor Expression

Abstract: Objective— To determine whether tissue factor (TF) contributes to the progression of atherosclerotic lesions in mice. Methods and Results— We determined the effect of a 50% reduction of TF levels in all cells on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE −/− ) mice. No differences were observed in the extent of atherosclerosis in apoE −/− /TF +/+ and apoE −/− /TF +/− mice fed regular chow for 34 weeks. Atherosclerosis could not be analyzed in apoE −/− mice expressing low levels of TF because of premature death of these mice. Macrophages are a major source of TF in atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, in a second series of experiments, we investigated the effect on atherosclerosis of selectively reducing hematopoietic cell-derived TF by transplanting bone marrow from mice expressing low levels of TF into low-density lipoprotein receptor deficient (LDLR −/− ) mice. Atherosclerosis within the arterial tree and aortic root were similar in LDLR −/− mice with low-TF bone marrow compared with control bone marrow (TF +/+ or TF +/− ) after 4 and 16 weeks on an atherogenic diet. Furthermore, the cellular composition of the aortic root lesions was similar between the 2 groups. Conclusions— Our data indicate that either a 50% reduction of TF in all cells or a selective reduction in hematopoietic cell-derived TF does not affect the development of atherosclerotic lesions in mice.