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Review
. 2022 Dec 13:10:rbac103.
doi: 10.1093/rb/rbac103. eCollection 2023.

Tuning macrophages for atherosclerosis treatment

Fei Fang  1   2   3 , Crystal Xiao  2   3 , Chunli Li  1 , Xiaoheng Liu  1 , Song Li  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Tuning macrophages for atherosclerosis treatment

Fei Fang et al. Regen Biomater. .

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory vascular disease and a leading cause of death worldwide. Macrophages play an important role in inflammatory responses, cell-cell communications, plaque growth and plaque rupture in atherosclerotic lesions. Here, we review the sources, functions and complex phenotypes of macrophages in the progression of atherosclerosis, and discuss the recent approaches in modulating macrophage phenotype and autophagy for atherosclerosis treatment. We then focus on the drug delivery strategies that target macrophages or use macrophage membrane-coated particles to deliver therapeutics to the lesion sites. These biomaterial-based approaches that target, modulate or engineer macrophages have broad applications for disease therapies and tissue regeneration.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; drug delivery system; immune engineering; macrophages.

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Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic diagram of the source of macrophages in atherosclerosis.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The functions of macrophages in atherosclerosis (created with biorender.com).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Major macrophage subtypes in atherosclerotic lesions. M1, M1 macrophages; M2, M2 macrophages; Mox, Mox macrophages; M(Hb), hemoglobin (Hb)-stimulated macrophages; M4, M4 macrophages.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Cell surface molecules for atherosclerotic macrophage targeting (created with biorender.com).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Drug delivery strategies based on macrophage-based cell membrane components or bioactive bodies. (A) Schematic representation of leukosome platform [131]. (B) RAP-L decreases the plaque burden of atherosclerosis in mice model [131]. (C) Schematic illustration of the preparation of MM-at-NPs [133]. (D) Drug releases from nanoparticles in different concentrations of H2O2 [133]. (E) Western blot analysis the presence of membrane antigens on the surfaces of both macrophage membrane and MM-NPs [133]. (F) Ex vivo imaging of Cy7.5 fluorescent signal of MM-Cy7.5-NPs, Cy7.5-NPs/MAs in aorta tissues [133]. (G) Schematic illustration of atherosclerosis management of HAL@M2 Exo [135]. (H) Flow cytometric analysis of neutrophils in acute peritoneal exudates 24 h after different treatments [135].
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