The formation of fat-laden foam cells, contributing to the fatty streaks of the plaques of atheroma, is the critical early process in atherosclerosis. The previous study demonstrated that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contain a much larger burden of the excess cholesterol in comparison with monocyte-derived macrophages in human coronary atherosclerosis, as the main origin of foam cells. It is noteworthy that VSMC-derived foam cells are deposited in subintima but not media, where VSMCs normally deposit in. Therefore, migration from media to intima is an indispensable step for a VSMC to accrue neutral lipids and form foam cell. Whether this migration occurs paralleled with or prior to the formation of foam cell is still unclear. Herein, the present study was designed to test the VSMC migratory capability in the process of foam cell formation induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). In conclusion, we provide evidence that oxLDL induces the VSMC-derived foam cells formation with increased migration ability and MMP-9 expression, which were partly attributed to the impaired SIRT1 and enhanced nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity. As activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) has been reported to have anti-atherosclerotic effects, we investigated its role in oxLDL-treated VSMC migration. It is found that activating TRPV1 by capsaicin inhibits VSMC foam cell formation and the accompanied migration through rescuing the SIRT1 and suppressing NF-κB signaling. The present study provides evidence that SIRT1 may be a promising intervention target of atherosclerosis, and raises the prospect of TRPV1 in prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
Keywords: Foam cell; MMP-9; Migration; SIRT1; TRPV1; Vascular smooth muscle cell.