Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which an accumulation of fatty acids and cholesterol occurs to form a plaque in small and large arteries. Monocyte polarization to classic M1 macrophages or alternative M2 macrophages is an important area of research that can determine the severity of disease progression. BMP-7 is a key growth factor responsible for directing differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into brown fat cells, suggesting a role of BMP-7 in cellular plasticity; however, its role in monocyte polarization is yet to be revealed. In the current study, we hypothesize that monocyte treatment with BMP-7 will significantly result in increased polarization of monocytes into M2 macrophages and increased expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines. To that effect, we have established a stress induced cell culture system with monocytes (THP-1 cells) and apoptotic conditioned medium (ACM), simulating injury, to understand the effects of BMP-7 on M2 macrophage polarization from monocytes. Our data demonstrates that the BMP type 2 receptor (BMPR2) is found on monocytes and its activation is significantly (p
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-3923 |
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| Creators | Rocher, Crystal |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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