Immunologic Mechanisms in Acute Coronary Syndrome through TRAIL/DR5 pathway

动脉粥样硬化和不稳定斑块的形成与慢性炎症和免疫机制密切相关，导致急性冠脉综合征。本研究发现，(1)在不稳定斑块中，存在大量TRAIL阳性的CD4T细胞、DR5阳性的血管内皮细胞和血管内皮细胞，并通过TRAIL/DR5途径诱导靶细胞的凋亡；(2)CD4T细胞产生的炎性细胞因子TRAILα增加DR5，破坏斑块的稳定性；(3)监测外周血中可溶性TRAIL是评估斑块稳定性和疾病严重程度的潜在免疫生物标志物。

Development of atherosclerosis and unstable plaque, which cause acute coronary syndrome(ACS), are highly associated with chronic inflammation and immunological mechanisms. In this study we found that, (1) in unstable plaque, there are abundant TRAIL-positive CD4 T cells, DR5-positive vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells, and apoptosis of target cells induced through the TRAIL/DR5 pathway, (2) inflammatory cytokine TNFαproduced by CD4 T cells increase DR5 and destabilizes plaque, (3) monitoring of soluble TRAIL in peripheral blood is a potential immunological biomarker for assessing plaque stability and disease severity.