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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Animals, Aorta, Atherosclerosis, Base Sequence, Bone Marrow, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Cholesterol, DNA Primers, Female, Foam Cells, Lipoproteins, Macrophages, Peritoneal, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, Molecular Sequence Data, Phospholipids, Receptors, LDL.
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Does bone marrow-derived multidrug resistance protein ABCB4 protect against atherosclerotic lesion development in LDL receptor knockout mice? Context: Several members of the ATP binding cassette (ABC)-transporter super family expressed in macrophages protect against atherosclerosis by promoting macrophage cholesterol and phospholipid efflux. Systemic disruption of ABCB4 in mice results in a virtual absence of phospholipids in bile and a strongly impaired biliary cholesterol secretion, indicating that ABCB4 plays an essential role in cellular lipid efflux. The aim of the current study was to determine the role of bone marrow-derived ABCB4 in atherosclerotic lesion development. Chimeras were created that specifically lack ABCB4 in bone marrow-derived cells, including macrophages, by performing a bone marrow transplantation on LDL receptor knockout (LDLr-/-) mice. Atherosclerotic lesion development was induced by feeding a high-cholesterol diet (15% fat and 0.25% cholesterol). Serum cholesterol levels were significantly lower in mice reconstituted with ABCB4 knockout bone marrow as a result of reduced VLDL and LDL cholesterol levels. Despite the lower serum cholesterol levels, ABCB4 deficiency in bone marrow-derived cells resulted in a 1.8-fold (p=0.005) increase in lesion size. In vitro foam cell formation, induced with acetylated LDL (AcLDL) in peritoneal macrophages, was increased in the absence of ABCB4, possibly due to a 2-fold (p<0.05) increased association of AcLDL, while the efflux of cholesterol was unaffected.
assistant
Bone marrow-derived ABCB4 has an important anti-atherosclerotic function, probably by limiting macrophage foam cell formation. Final Decision: yes