Identification of 5-Lipoxygenase as a Major Gene Contributing to Atherosclerosis Susceptibility in Mice

We previously reported the identification of a locus on mouse chromosome 6 that confers almost total resistance to atherogenesis, even on a hypercholesterolemic (LDL receptor–null) background. 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO) is the rate-limiting enzyme in leukotriene synthesis and was among the chromosome 6 locus candidate genes that we examined. The levels of 5-LO mRNA were reduced about 5-fold in a congenic strain, designated CON6, containing the resistant chromosome 6 region derived from the CAST/Ei strain (CAST), as compared with the background C57BL/6J (B6) strain. 5-LO protein levels were similarly reduced in the CON6 mice. Sequencing of the 5-LO cDNA revealed several differences between CON6 and the B6 strain. To test the whether 5-LO is responsible for the resistant phenotype, we bred a 5-LO knockout allele onto an LDL receptor–null (LDLR−/−) background. On this background, the mice bred poorly and only heterozygous 5-LO knockout mice were obtained. These mice showed a dramatic decrease (>26-fold;P <0.0005) in aortic lesion development, similar to the CON6 mice. Immunohistochemistry revealed that 5-LO was abundantly expressed in atherosclerotic lesions of apoE− /− and LDLR−/− deficient mice, appearing to colocalize with a subset of macrophages but not with all macrophage-staining regions. When bone marrow from 5-LO+/− mice was transplanted into LDLR−/−, there was a significant reduction in atherogenesis, suggesting that macrophage 5-LO is responsible, at least in part, for the effect on atherosclerosis. These results indicate that 5-LO contributes importantly to the atherogenic process and they provide strong presumptive evidence that reduced 5-LO expression is partly responsible for the resistance to atherosclerosis in CON6 mice.