New signal stabilizes atherosclerotic plaques

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a new stabilizing agent of atherosclerotic plaques. These findings have been published in Science Translational Medicine, and show how the immune system can improve the condition in blood vessels to help the body avoid heart attacks. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with accumulation of cholesterol in the vessel walls. The atherosclerotic plaque is built up throughout life and when it ruptures it leads to heart attack or stroke. T cells are important immune cells able to direct the immune response; they are present in the plaques at all stages and signal to other cells through or secretion of cytokines, a type of hormone-like signal molecules. In the present study the researchers have identified a cytokine produced by'T cells that can stabilize atherosclerotic plaques and protect them from rupture. The researchers made the finding when investigating a new mouse model together with scientists at Yale University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the United States.