ArticleEBioMedicine2020
Cholesterol crystals use complement to increase NLRP3 signaling pathways in coronary and carotid atherosclerosis.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- NLRP3 inflammasome activation by particles and fibers: implications for human hazard assessment.Archives of toxicology · 2026Review
- Coordinated suppression of lectin complement pathway effectors and upregulation of SERPING1 defines a thrombo-inflammatory regulatory signature in Acute Coronary disease.Molecular biology reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Anti-Inflammatory Therapies in Acute Coronary Syndromes-A Review of Immunological, Genetic, and Clinical Challenges for Precision Medicine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Role of Interleukin-6 in Atherothrombosis and Myocardial Infarction.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- Complement and inflammasome crosstalk in chronic inflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Inflammatory drivers of carotid atherosclerosis: signaling pathways, immune cells, and plaque stability.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- Natural Products Modulate Plaque Macrophage Functional Programs in Atherosclerosis.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Complement C3 in panvascular disease: a central integrator of immune signaling and vascular remodeling.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2025Review
- The NLRP3 inflammasome: a pivotal orchestrator of multisystem diseases-from molecular mechanisms to therapeutic innovation.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Atherosclerotic Plaque Crystals Induce Endothelial Dysfunction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Macrophage junctional adhesion molecule-like (JAML) protein promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the development of atherosclerosis.Cell death and differentiation · 2025Article
- Life-threatening risk factors contribute to the development of diseases with the highest mortality through the induction of regulated necrotic cell death.Cell death & disease · 2025Review
- Alternative Complement Pathway in Carotid Atherosclerosis: Low Plasma Properdin Levels Associate With Long-Term Cardiovascular Mortality.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Inflammatory Pathways in Coronary Artery Disease: Which Ones to Target for Secondary Prevention?Cells · 2025Review
- NLRP3 inflammasome in cardiovascular diseases: an update.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Oxidative Stress-Mediated Programmed Cell Death: a Potential Therapy Target for Atherosclerosis.Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2024Review
- Paeonol attenuated high glucose-induced apoptosis via up-regulating miR-223-3p in mouse cardiac microvascular endothelial cells.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Chronic HIV Infection Increases Monocyte NLRP3 Inflammasome-Dependent IL-1α and IL-1β Release.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Navigating the Maze of Kinases: CaMK-like Family Protein Kinases and Their Role in Atherosclerosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring atherogenesis, cholesterol precipitates into cholesterol crystals (CC) in the vessel wall, which trigger plaque inflammation by activating the NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. We investigated the relationship between CC, complement and NLRP3 in patients with cardiovascular disease.
methodsWe analysed plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and carotid plaques from patients with advanced atherosclerosis applying ELISAs, multiplex cytokine assay, qPCR, immunohistochemistry, and gene profiling.
findingsTranscripts of interleukin (IL)-1beta(β) and NLRP3 were increased and correlated in PBMC from patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Priming of these cells with complement factor 5a (C5a) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) before incubation with CC resulted in increased IL-1β protein when compared to healthy controls. As opposed to healthy controls, systemic complement was significantly increased in patients with stable angina pectoris or ACS. In carotid plaques, complement C1q and C5b-9 complex accumulated around CC-clefts, and complement receptors C5aR1, C5aR2 and C3aR1 were higher in carotid plaques compared to control arteries. Priming human carotid plaques with C5a followed by CC incubation resulted in pronounced release of IL-1β, IL-18 and IL-1α. Additionally, mRNA profiling demonstrated that C5a and TNF priming followed by CC incubation upregulated plaque expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components.
interpretationWe demonstrate that CC are important local- and systemic complement activators, and we reveal that the interaction between CC and complement could exert its effect by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome, thus promoting the progression of atherosclerosis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.