Critical role of scavenger receptor-BI-expressing bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells in the attenuation of allograft vasculopathy after human apo A-I transfer

Abstract

Allograft vasculopathy is the leading cause of death in patients with heart transplantation. Accelerated endothelial regeneration mediated by enhanced endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) incorporation may attenuate the development of allograft vasculopathy. We investigated the hypothesis that modulation of EPC biology and attenuation of allograft vasculopathy by increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol after human apo A-I (AdA-I) transfer requires scavenger receptor (SR)-BI expression in bone marrow- derived EPCs. After AdA-I transfer, the number of circulating EPCs increased 2.0-fold (P