Cell death in atherosclerosis

ABSTRACT

A complex and evolutionary process that involves the buildup of lipids in the arterial wall and the invasion of inflammatory cells results in atherosclerosis. Cell death is a fundamental biological process that is essential to the growth and dynamic equilibrium of all living things. Serious cell damage can cause a number of metabolic processes to stop, cell structure to be destroyed, or other irreversible changes that result in cell death. It is important to note that studies have shown that the two types of programmed cell death, apoptosis and autophagy, influence the onset and progression of atherosclerosis by controlling these cells. This could serve as a foundation for the creation of fresh atherosclerosis prevention and treatment strategies. Therefore, in this review, we summarized the molecular mechanisms of cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, ferroptosis and necrosis, and discussed their effects on endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages in the process of atherosclerosis, so as to provide reference for the next step to reveal the mechanism of atherosclerosis.

KEYWORDS:

• Atherosclerosis
• cell death
• research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed to the planning and writing of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study (e.g. opinion or dataless paper).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China [NO. 82060091].