The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Sep 2017
Endothelial-specific deletion of autophagy-related 7 (ATG7) attenuates arterial thrombosis in mice.
Thrombosis persists as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Given that endothelial cells (ECs) play a central role in regulating thrombosis, understanding the molecular endothelial cues that regulate susceptibility or resistance to thrombosis have important translational implications. Accordingly, we evaluated the role of endothelial autophagy in the development of thrombosis. ⋯ Taken together, these results provide definitive evidence that loss of endothelial ATG7 attenuates thrombosis and reduces the expression of TF. Our findings demonstrate that endothelial ATG7, and thus autophagy, is a critical and previously unrecognized target for modulating the susceptibility to thrombosis.