Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Jan 2015
Inflammasome activation by mitochondrial oxidative stress in macrophages leads to the development of angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is considered a chronic inflammatory disease; however, the molecular basis underlying the sterile inflammatory response involved in the process of AAA remains unclear. We previously showed that the inflammasome, which regulates the caspase-1-dependent interleukin-1β production, mediates the sterile cardiovascular inflammatory responses. Therefore, we hypothesized that the inflammasome is a key mediator of initial inflammation in AAA formation. ⋯ Our results demonstrate the importance of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the initial inflammatory responses in AAA formation, indicating its potential as a novel therapeutic target for preventing AAA progression.