Deficiency of macrophage PHACTR1 impairs efferocytosis and promotes atherosclerotic plaque necrosis Canan Kasikara, … , Muredach P Reilly, Ira Tabas J Clin Invest. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI145275. Research In-Press Preview Cardiology Cell biology Graphical abstract Find the latest version: https://jci.me/145275/pdf Deficiency of macrophage PHACTR1 impairs efferocytosis and promotes atherosclerotic plaque necrosis Canan Kasikara,1 Maaike Schilperoort,1 Brennan Gerlach,1 Chenyi Xue,1 Xiaobo Wang1, Ze Zheng,2 George Kuriakose,1 Bernhard Dorweiler,3 Hanrui Zhang,1 Gabrielle Fredman4, Danish Saleheen,1 Muredach P. Reilly1,5, and Ira Tabas1,6,7 1Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. 2Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. 3Department of Vascular Surgery, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.4Deparment of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York, USA. 5Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. 6Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and 7Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. Address correspondence to: Ira Tabas, Depart of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, New York, New York 10032, USA. Phone: 212.305.9430; E-mail:
[email protected]. 1 Abstract Efferocytosis, the process through which apoptotic cells (ACs) are cleared through actin-mediated engulfment by macrophages, prevents secondary necrosis, suppresses inflammation, and promotes resolution. Impaired efferocytosis drives the formation of clinically dangerous necrotic atherosclerotic plaques, the underlying etiology of coronary artery disease (CAD). An intron of the gene encoding PHACTR1 contains a common variant rs9349379 (A > G) associated with CAD.