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Chen R, Zhang H, Tang B, Luo Y, Yang Y, Zhong X, Chen S, Xu X, Huang S, Liu C. Macrophages in cardiovascular diseases: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2024; 9:130. [PMID: 38816371 PMCID: PMC11139930 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01840-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024] Open
Abstract
The immune response holds a pivotal role in cardiovascular disease development. As multifunctional cells of the innate immune system, macrophages play an essential role in initial inflammatory response that occurs following cardiovascular injury, thereby inducing subsequent damage while also facilitating recovery. Meanwhile, the diverse phenotypes and phenotypic alterations of macrophages strongly associate with distinct types and severity of cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, valvular disease, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, atherosclerosis and aneurysm, which underscores the importance of investigating macrophage regulatory mechanisms within the context of specific diseases. Besides, recent strides in single-cell sequencing technologies have revealed macrophage heterogeneity, cell-cell interactions, and downstream mechanisms of therapeutic targets at a higher resolution, which brings new perspectives into macrophage-mediated mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases. Remarkably, myocardial fibrosis, a prevalent characteristic in most cardiac diseases, remains a formidable clinical challenge, necessitating a profound investigation into the impact of macrophages on myocardial fibrosis within the context of cardiac diseases. In this review, we systematically summarize the diverse phenotypic and functional plasticity of macrophages in regulatory mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases and unprecedented insights introduced by single-cell sequencing technologies, with a focus on different causes and characteristics of diseases, especially the relationship between inflammation and fibrosis in cardiac diseases (myocardial infarction, pressure overload, myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, diabetic cardiomyopathy and cardiac aging) and the relationship between inflammation and vascular injury in vascular diseases (atherosclerosis and aneurysm). Finally, we also highlight the preclinical/clinical macrophage targeting strategies and translational implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Runkai Chen
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Hongrui Zhang
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Botao Tang
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Yukun Luo
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Yufei Yang
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Xin Zhong
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China
| | - Sifei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Xinjie Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100037, China.
| | - Shengkang Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100037, China.
| | - Canzhao Liu
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Heart Center, Heart Center, Translational Medicine Research Center, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou, 510280, China.
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Smolgovsky S, Bayer AL, Kaur K, Sanders E, Aronovitz M, Filipp ME, Thorp EB, Schiattarella GG, Hill JA, Blanton RM, Cubillos-Ruiz JR, Alcaide P. Impaired T cell IRE1α/XBP1 signaling directs inflammation in experimental heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. J Clin Invest 2023; 133:e171874. [PMID: 37874641 PMCID: PMC10721145 DOI: 10.1172/jci171874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a widespread syndrome with limited therapeutic options and poorly understood immune pathophysiology. Using a 2-hit preclinical model of cardiometabolic HFpEF that induces obesity and hypertension, we found that cardiac T cell infiltration and lymphoid expansion occurred concomitantly with cardiac pathology and that diastolic dysfunction, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, and cardiac phospholamban phosphorylation were T cell dependent. Heart-infiltrating T cells were not restricted to cardiac antigens and were uniquely characterized by impaired activation of the inositol-requiring enzyme 1α/X-box-binding protein 1 (IRE1α/XBP1) arm of the unfolded protein response. Notably, selective ablation of XBP1 in T cells enhanced their persistence in the heart and lymphoid organs of mice with preclinical HFpEF. Furthermore, T cell IRE1α/XBP1 activation was restored after withdrawal of the 2 comorbidities inducing HFpEF, resulting in partial improvement of cardiac pathology. Our results demonstrated that diastolic dysfunction and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in preclinical HFpEF were T cell dependent and that reversible dysregulation of the T cell IRE1α/XBP1 axis was a T cell signature of HFpEF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha Smolgovsky
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Abraham L. Bayer
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kuljeet Kaur
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Erin Sanders
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mark Aronovitz
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mallory E. Filipp
- Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Edward B. Thorp
- Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Gabriele G. Schiattarella
- Max Rubner Center for Cardiovascular Metabolic Renal Research (MRC), Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Translational Approaches in Heart Failure and Cardiometabolic Disease, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joseph A. Hill
- Department of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) and
- Department of Molecular Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Robert M. Blanton
- Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and
- Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
- Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, New York, USA
| | - Pilar Alcaide
- Department of Immunology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Thackeray JT, Lavine KJ, Liu Y. Imaging Inflammation Past, Present, and Future: Focus on Cardioimmunology. J Nucl Med 2023; 64:39S-48S. [PMID: 37918845 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.122.264865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence implicates the immune system as a critical mediator of cardiovascular disease progression and a viable therapeutic target. Increased inflammatory cell activity is seen in the full spectrum of disorders from early-stage atherosclerosis through myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, and chronic heart failure. Although therapeutic strategies to modulate inflammation have shown promise in preclinical animal models, efficacy in patients has been modest owing in part to the variable severity of inflammation across individuals. The diverse leukocyte subpopulations involved in different aspects of heart disease pose a challenge to effective therapy, wherein adverse and beneficial aspects of inflammation require appropriate balance. Noninvasive molecular imaging enables tissue-level interrogation of inflammatory cells in the heart and vasculature to provide mechanistic and temporal insights into disease progression. Although clinical imaging has relied on 18F-FDG as a nonselective and crude marker of inflammatory cell activity, new imaging probes targeting cell surface markers of different leukocyte subpopulations present the opportunity to visualize and quantify distinct phases of cardiac and vessel wall inflammation. Similarly, therapies are evolving to more effectively isolate adverse from beneficial cell populations. This parallel development of immunocardiology and molecular imaging provides the opportunity to refine treatments using imaging guidance, building toward mechanism-based precision medicine. Here, we discuss progress in molecular imaging of immune cells in cardiology from use of 18F-FDG in the past to the present expansion of the radiotracer arsenal and then to a future theranostic paradigm of tracer-therapy compound pairs with shared targets. We then highlight the critical experiments required to advance the field from preclinical concept to clinical reality.
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Affiliation(s)
- James T Thackeray
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;
| | - Kory J Lavine
- Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; and
| | - Yongjian Liu
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
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Smart CD, Madhur MS. The immunology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Clin Sci (Lond) 2023; 137:1225-1247. [PMID: 37606086 PMCID: PMC10959189 DOI: 10.1042/cs20230226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) now accounts for the majority of new heart failure diagnoses and continues to increase in prevalence in the United States. Importantly, HFpEF is a highly morbid, heterogeneous syndrome lacking effective therapies. Inflammation has emerged as a potential contributor to the pathogenesis of HFpEF. Many of the risk factors for HFpEF are also associated with chronic inflammation, such as obesity, hypertension, aging, and renal dysfunction. A large amount of preclinical evidence suggests that immune cells and their associated cytokines play important roles in mediating fibrosis, oxidative stress, metabolic derangements, and endothelial dysfunction, all potentially important processes in HFpEF. How inflammation contributes to HFpEF pathogenesis, however, remains poorly understood. Recently, a variety of preclinical models have emerged which may yield much needed insights into the causal relationships between risk factors and the development of HFpEF, including the role of specific immune cell subsets or inflammatory pathways. Here, we review evidence in animal models and humans implicating inflammation as a mediator of HFpEF and identify gaps in knowledge requiring further study. As the understanding between inflammation and HFpEF evolves, it is hoped that a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying immune cell activation in HFpEF can open up new therapeutic avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Duncan Smart
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics,
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, U.S.A
| | - Meena S. Madhur
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics,
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, U.S.A
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular
Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, U.S.A
- Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, U.S.A
- Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and
Inflammation, Nashville, TN, U.S.A
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