A Review: The Significance of Toll-Like Receptors 2 and 4, and NF-κB Signaling in Endothelial Cells during Atherosclerosis
Baoxin Yan, Xiaoxian Yu, Xianzhen Cai, Xiao‐Jun Huang, Bin Xie, Danchun Lian, Jinhao Chen, Weiwen Li, Ying Lin, Junjun Ye, Jilin Li
Abstract
Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory vascular disease that begins with endothelial activation followed by a series of inflammatory responses, plaque formation, and finally rupture. An early event in endothelial dysfunction is activation of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling axis. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in endothelial cells (ECs) play an essential role in recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), and lifestyle-associated molecular patterns (LAMPs). Activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway stimulates the expression of cytokines, chemokines, and an array of additional genes which activate and amplify AS-associated inflammatory responses. In this review, we discuss the involvement of TLR2/4 and NF-κB signaling in ECs during AS initiation, as well as regulation of the inflammatory response during AS by noncoding RNAs, especially microRNA (miRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA).