Background: The complement system is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Complement has been shown to activate endothelial cells (ECs) by inducing a proinflammatory response. Physiological levels of shear stress exert potent antiatherosclerotic effects. Therefore, we investigated whether shear stress antagonizes the effects of complement on ECs.
Methods and results: Incubation of ECs with nonlytic concentrations of complement serum (CS: 0.2 U/mL for 6 hours) resulted in an upregulation of interleukin-8 (IL-8) (165+/-12%) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA expression (267+/-34%). Preexposure of ECs for 18 hours with laminar shear stress (15 dyne/cm(2)) abrogated CS-induced IL-8 release to 106+/-10% (P<0.001) and reduced CS-induced MCP-1 expression (170+/-31%; P<0.05). To examine the mechanism of the protective effect of shear stress, expression of the complement-inhibitory protein clusterin was analyzed under shear exposure. Shear stress increased clusterin mRNA (225+/-76%, 6 hours) and protein expression (164+/-22%, 18 hours). Specific inhibition of clusterin by transfection with antisense oligonucleotides reversed the protective effect of shear stress on CS-induced MCP-1 and IL-8 upregulation (P<0.05 versus sense-transfected cells). Moreover, clusterin overexpression inhibited CS-induced EC activation.
Conclusions: Shear stress abrogates the complement-induced proinflammatory response of ECs by upregulation of the complement-inhibitory protein clusterin. Upregulation of clusterin may contribute to the potent antiatherosclerotic effects of shear stress by preventing endothelial activation through the complement cascade.