Two polymorphic cholesterol monohydrate crystal structures form in macrophage culture models of atherosclerosis
Abstract
Atherosclerosis causes heart attack and stroke and is a major fatal disease in the Western world. Cholesterol crystal rods and plates are the hallmark of developed atherosclerotic plaques and are associated with plaque rupture and thrombus formation. We show here that the elongated rod-shaped crystals that form inside macrophage cells enriched with cholesterol have a crystal structure different from the thin plates associated with the cell plasma membrane. The two crystal structures are induced by the different biological environment where they form. Besides identifying the structure of cholesterol crystals in pathological plaques, this work may thus provide information on cellular crystal growth mechanisms, once the factors that favor the formation of the different structures are understood.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1803119115
- Bibcode:
- 2018PNAS..115.7662V