The Role of Macrophage Receptor with a Collegenous Structure (MARCO) in Atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular diseases account for a quarter of all deaths in Canada. A main contributor towards vascular disease is atherosclerosis, or a build-up of plaque in the arteries. During the inflammatory atherogenic response, macrophages can perpetuate inflammation through lipid accumulation. Macrophages ingest lipids through scavenger receptors (SRs) which have functions that potentially affect atherogenesis. Nevertheless, SRs remains controversial in atherosclerosis. My project assesses Macrophage Receptor with Collagenous Structure (MARCO) in experimental atherosclerosis. Consistent with our MARCO expression data, MARCO deficiency did not affect lipid uptake in bone marrow derived macrophages but was impaired in peritoneal macrophages. To assess how MARCO shapes disease, we used a Marco-/- Ldlr -/- and an AAV-PCSK9 injected Marco-/- mice. Both atherosclerosis models developed similar lesion sizes compared to controls. Inflammatory profiles also were similar while bone marrow transplant experiments suggest hematopoietic MARCO does not impact atherosclerosis. Despite binding lipids, MARCO seems to have no influence in atherosclerosis.M.Sc