Abstract

Objective: Atherosclerosis is a key component of cardiovascular diseases. We set out to study here whether genetic ablation of P4H-TM (transmembrane prolyl 4-hydroxylase) could protect against atherosclerosis as does inhibition of the other 3 classical HIF-P4Hs (hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl 4-hydroxylases).

Approach and Results: We generated a double knockout mouse line deficient in P4H-TM and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) receptor (P4h-tm^−/−/Ldlr^−/−) and subjected these mice to a high-fat diet for 13 weeks. The double knockout mice had less atherosclerotic plaques in their full-length aorta than their P4h-tm^+/+/Ldlr^−/− counterparts and also had lower serum triglyceride levels on standard laboratory diet and high-fat diet, higher levels of IgM autoantibodies against Ox-LDL (oxidized LDL), and significantly higher lipoprotein lipase protein levels in white adipose tissue and sera. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed changes in expression of mRNAs in multiple pathways including lipid metabolism and immunologic response in the P4h-tm^−/−/Ldlr^−/− livers as compared with P4h-tm^+/+/Ldlr^−/−.

Conclusions: Our data identify P4H-TM inhibition as a potential novel immuno-metabolic mechanism for intervening in the pathology of atherosclerosis, as hypertriglyceridemia is an individual risk factor for atherosclerosis, and IgM antibodies to Ox-LDL and increased lipoprotein lipase have been associated with protection against it.