Background: Human salusins, related bioactive polypeptides with mitogenic effects on vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts and roles in hemodynamic homeostasis, may be involved in the origin of coronary atherosclerosis. Macrophage foam cell formation, characterized by cholesterol ester accumulation, is modulated by scavenger receptor (cholesterol influx), acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase-1 (ACAT-1; storage cholesterol ester converted from free cholesterol), and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (cholesterol efflux).
Methods and results: Serum salusin-alpha levels were decreased in 173 patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease compared with 40 patients with mild hypertension and 55 healthy volunteers (4.9+/-0.6 versus 15.4+/-1.1 and 20.7+/-1.5 pmol/L, respectively; P<0.0001). Immunoreactive salusin-alpha and -beta were detected in human coronary atherosclerotic plaques, with dominance of salusin-beta in vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. After 7 days in primary culture, acetylated low-density lipoprotein-induced cholesterol ester accumulation in human monocyte-derived macrophages was significantly decreased by salusin-alpha and increased by salusin-beta. Salusin-alpha significantly reduced ACAT-1 expression in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, salusin-beta significantly increased ACAT-1 expression by 2.1-fold, with a maximal effect at 0.6 nmol/L. These effects of salusins were abolished by G-protein, c-Src tyrosine kinase, protein kinase C, and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitors. ACAT activity and ACAT-1 mRNA levels were also significantly decreased by salusin-alpha and increased by salusin-beta; however, neither salusin-alpha nor salusin-beta affected scavenger receptor A function assessed by [125I]acetylated low-density lipoprotein endocytosis or scavenger receptor class A and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 expression.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that the 2 salusin isoforms have opposite effects on foam cell formation in human monocyte-derived macrophages. Development of atherosclerosis may be accelerated by salusin-beta and suppressed by salusin-alpha via ACAT-1 regulation.