Patient Endothelial Colony-Forming Cells to Model Coronary Artery Disease Susceptibility and Unravel the Role of Dysregulated Mitochondrial Redox Signalling

Mechanisms involved in the individual susceptibility to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) beyond traditional risk factors are poorly understood. Here, we describe the utility of cultured patient-derived endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) in examining novel mechanisms of CAD susceptibility, particularly the role of dysregulated redox signalling. ECFCs were selectively cultured from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 828 patients from the BioHEART-CT cohort, each with corresponding demographic, clinical and CT coronary angiographic imaging data. Spontaneous growth occurred in 178 (21.5%) patients and was more common in patients with hypertension (OR 1.45 (95% CI 1.03-2.02), = 0.031), and less likely in patients with obesity (OR 0.62 [95% CI 0.40-0.95], = 0.027) or obstructive CAD (stenosis > 50%) (OR 0.60 [95% CI 0.38-0.95], = 0.027). ECFCs from patients with CAD had higher mitochondrial production of superoxide (O-MitoSOX assay). The latter was strongly correlated with the severity of CAD as measured by either coronary artery calcium score (R = 0.46; = 0.0051) or Gensini Score (R = 0.67; = 0.0002). Patient-derived ECFCs were successfully cultured in 3D culture pulsatile mini-vessels. Patient-derived ECFCs can provide a novel resource for discovering mechanisms of CAD disease susceptibility, particularly in relation to mitochondrial redox signalling.