Mouse models of atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder in arteries, and its complications cause major clinical problems such as acute myocardial infarction and stroke, leading to global health threats. Particularly, activated macrophages participate in multiple steps of atherogenesis from the initiation, to the lesion progression, to the onset of acute complications. To examine its molecular mechanisms and develop new therapies, experimental models of atherosclerosis play important roles. Due to the availability of various genetically altered strains, mouse models of atherosclerosis enormously contribute to testing specific biological hypotheses. Mouse models of atherosclerosis also help to evaluate and monitor the effects of new therapies. This chapter briefly discusses the history of the development of animal models of atherosclerosis and summarizes several mouse strains commonly used in atherosclerosis research. As do clinical trials, preclinical studies should employ multidisciplinary approaches to provide the unambiguous evidence that supports a biological hypothesis or examine the effects of a new therapy from various angles. We thus describe the experimental protocols of atherosclerosis research in mice that covers several disciplines, including ultrasonography, molecular imaging of macrophage activation, histological analyses, and biochemical assays.