Ox-LDL induces a non-inflammatory response enriched for coronary artery disease risk in human endothelial cells.

Jiang J., Hiron TK., Chalisey A., Malhotra Y., Agbaedeng T., O'Callaghan CA.

Oxidised low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ox-LDL) is critical in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. While excessive atherogenic lipids in the arterial intima can trigger endothelial dysfunction in advanced lesions, the response of endothelial cells to ox-LDL in the early stages of atherogenesis remains unclear. Here, we conducted a comprehensive, genome-wide multi-omics characterisation of the cellular response to ox-LDL in primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). Our results reveal that the exposure of HAECs to ox-LDL leads to pathogenic changes in metabolism, transcriptome and epigenome, but in the absence of a typical inflammatory endothelial phenotype. An integrative analysis implicates the role of AP-1, NFE-2 and CEBP transcription factors in regulating ox-LDL-induced transcription. We further demonstrate that ox-LDL activates endothelial cell migration through the epigenomic rewiring of transcription factor binding. Notably, these ox-LDL-induced dynamic binding sites are enriched for the genetic risk of coronary artery disease, enabling the discovery of the gene-environment interaction of rs62172376 and ox-LDL at the CALCRL/TFPI locus. Collectively, our findings provide an unbiased understanding of the transcriptional regulation in endothelial cells in response to ox-LDL, together with its interaction with the genetic element of coronary artery disease.

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-07763-3

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Volume

15

Addresses

Centre for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Keywords

Aorta, Cells, Cultured, Endothelial Cells, Humans, Lipoproteins, LDL, Cell Movement, Coronary Artery Disease, Transcriptome

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