Heterogeneity of foam cell biogenesis across diseases
bioRxiv the preprint server for biology(2024)
Abstract
Foam cells are dysfunctional, lipid-laden macrophages associated with chronic inflammation of diverse origin. The long-standing paradigm that foam cells are cholesterol-laden derives from atherosclerosis research. We previously showed that, in tuberculosis, foam cells surprisingly accumulate triglycerides. Here, we utilized bacterial ( Mycobacterium tuberculosis ), fungal ( Cryptococcus neoformans ), and human papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) models. We applied mass spectrometry-based imaging to assess the spatial distribution of storage lipids relative to foam-cell-rich areas in lesional tissues, and characterized lipid-laden macrophages generated under corresponding in vitro conditions. The in vivo data were consistent with in vitro findings showing that cryptococcus-infected macrophages accumulated triglycerides, while macrophages exposed to pRCC-conditioned-medium accumulated both triglycerides and cholesterol. Moreover, cryptococcus- and mycobacterium-infected macrophages accumulated triglycerides by different mechanisms. Collectively, our data indicate that the mechanisms of foam cell formation are disease-microenvironment-specific. Since foam cells are potential therapeutic targets, recognizing that their formation is disease-specific opens new biomedical research directions.
### Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
* CE
: cholesteryl esters
H&E
: hematoxylin and eosin
MALDI
: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry
MDM
: monocyte-derived macrophages
pRCC
: papillary renal cell carcinoma
TAG
: triglycerides.
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