Emerging Roles of Neural Guidance Molecules in Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Neural guidance cues are attracting attention in atherosclerosis. In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology , Wanschel et al1 add yet another neural guidance molecule, Semaphorin 3E, to the growing list of neural guidance cues that may contribute to atherosclerosis. Indeed, this team of scientists, led by Kathryn Moore at New York University, has in the last year implicated 3 other neural guidance cues in atherosclerosis, including netrin-1,2,3 semaphorin 3A,3 and ephrin B3 in the regulation of inflammatory atherosclerosis. See accompanying article on page 886 In the first of a series of papers on these molecules, this group showed that netrin-1–deficient bone marrow transplanted into LDLR–/− mice led to markedly reduced atherosclerotic plaques.2 Using a method to track monocyte entry and persistence in a quantitative manner,4,5 the authors argued that netrin-1 was essential for retaining monocyte-derived foamy macrophages in plaques. In the absence of netrin-1, monocytes could …