Exosomes Derived from Endothelial Cells Inhibit Neointimal Hyperplasia Induced by Carotid Artery Injury in Rats via ROS-NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway

Bull Exp Biol Med. 2023 Apr;174(6):762-767. doi: 10.1007/s10517-023-05788-0. Epub 2023 May 10.

Abstract

This study attempted to investigate whether exosomes derived from rat endothelial cells (EC-Exo) attenuate intimal hyperplasia after balloon injury using hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining, Evans blue staining, and Western blotting. The results indicated that EC-Exo inhibited intimal hyperplasia in the carotid artery after balloon injury, promoted re-endothelialization, and reduced vascular inflammation and ROS-NLRP3-mediated cell pyroptosis. Thus, EC-Exo can inhibit neointimal hyperplasia after carotid artery injury in rats presumably by inhibiting the ROS-NLRP3 inflammasome and phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells.

Keywords: carotid artery injury; exosomes; inflammation; phenotypic modulation; vascular repair.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carotid Artery Injuries* / metabolism
  • Endothelial Cells / metabolism
  • Exosomes* / metabolism
  • Hyperplasia
  • Inflammasomes
  • NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein
  • Neointima
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Reactive Oxygen Species

Substances

  • Inflammasomes
  • NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Nlrp3 protein, rat