Wnt/β-catenin通路在动脉粥样硬化发生中的作用

The role of Wnt/β-catenin pathway in atherosclerosis

动脉粥样硬化(atherosclerosis,AS)是心血管病中最常见、最重要的病理基础,其主要特点是动脉管壁增厚变硬、弹性降低、管腔缩小,使得心肌血流量减少,导致胸痛、心绞痛甚至心肌梗死,对人类的健康造成了严重的危害。AS的发生是一个多步骤的病理过程,始于脂质沉积和内皮细胞功能障碍。随后单核细胞聚集可引发炎症反应,单核细胞进一步分化为巨噬细胞并通过摄取修饰低密度脂蛋白转化为泡沫细胞。同时,随着血管平滑肌细胞的浸润,增殖细胞外基质沉积在内膜下,最终形成斑块。Wnt信号通路是高度保守的信号通路,它参与调节细胞的分化、增殖和凋亡的过程。Wnt/β-catenin通路是一种经典的Wnt通路,近些年Wnt/β-catenin信号通路在AS的中所起到的作用成为研究热点。本文对近年来Wnt/β-catenin信号通路在AS病理生理中的作用机制所取得的研究进展论述。

Atherosclerosis(AS) is the most common and important pathological basis of cardiovascular diseases. Its main characteristics are artery wall thickening and hardening、elasticity reducing、lumen narrowing、myocardial blood flow reducing, which lead to chest pain、angina pectoris and even myocardial infarction and caused serious harm to human health. The development of AS is a multi-step pathological process that begins with lipid deposition and endothelial cell dysfunction. The aggregation of monocytes triggers inflammatory response,further differentiate into macrophages, then transform into foam cells through the uptake of modified low-density lipoprotein. At the same time, with the infiltration of vascular smooth muscle cells, the proliferation of extracellular matrix deposited under the intima, it eventually formed plaques. Wnt signaling pathway is a highly conserved signaling pathway involved in the regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a classical Wnt pathway. In recent years, the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in AS has become a research hotspot. This paper reviews the recent research progress of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of AS.