Overexpression of 15-lipoxygenase in vascular endothelium accelerates early atherosclerosis in LDL receptor-deficient mice

Abstract

To study the possible role of the human lipid-oxidizing enzyme 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) in atherosclerosis, we overexpressed it specifically in the vascular wall of C57B6/SJL mice by using the murine preproendothelin-1 promoter. The mice overexpressing 15-LO were crossbred with low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-deficient mice to investigate atherogenesis. High levels of 15-LO were expressed in the atherosclerotic lesion in the double-transgenic mice as assessed by immunohistochemistry. The double-transgenic, 15-LO-overexpressing, LDL receptor-deficient mice (LDLR(-/-)/15LO) developed significantly larger atherosclerotic lesions at the aortic sinus compared with lesions in the LDL receptor-deficient (LDLR(-/-)) mice after 3 and 6 weeks (107 000 versus 28 000 μm2 [P<0.001] and 121 000 versus 87 000 μm2 [P<0.05], respectively) of an atherogenic diet. LDL from the LDLR(-/-)/15LO mice was more susceptible to oxidation than was the LDL from the control LDLR(-/-) mice, as shown by a shorter lag period for copper-induced conjugated diene formation. On the other hand, no differences were found in the levels of serum anti-oxidized LDL antibodies between the study groups. There were also no differences with respect to the density of macrophages and T lymphocytes infiltrating the lesions in both experimental groups. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that 15-LO overexpression in the vessel wall is associated with enhanced atherogenesis.