Abstract

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a common vascular disorder with a high mortality due to the prevalence of aortic ruptures. The underlying pathomechanisms are complex and involve immune cell infiltration and degradation of the vascular extracellular matrix (ECM). Hyaluronan (HA), synthesized at the plasma membrane by three HA synthase isoenzymes (HAS1-3), is not only a major constituent of the ECM but also known to directly affect the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells as well as immunological responses. Specifically, the HAS3 isoenzyme has been reported to play a major role in various inflammatory conditions. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of HAS3-derived HA in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm. To this end, we used a murine model of Angiotensin II (AngII)-induced abdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections (AAAs/AADs) and could demonstrate that genetic depletion of Has3 improves survival in Apoe/Has3 double deficient (Apoe/Has3-DKO) mice via the reduced occurrence of aortic ruptures. Mechanistically, fewer elastica breaks were observed in Apoe/Has3-DKO mice compared to Apoe-KO littermates. This was associated with a decreased infiltration of myeloid immune cells into the vessel wall of Has3-deficient mice while in parallel elevated numbers of circulating leukocytes were detected. RNA seq analysis from aortic tissue pointed towards a disturbed endothelial-myeloid cell communication as a cause for the diminished recruitment of immune cells to the aortic wall. While endothelial cells were unaffected, upregulation of adhesion receptors as well as the HA receptor CD44, known to mediate leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium, was blunted in monocytes from Apoe/Has3-DKO mice in response to AngII treatment. These findings underline the pivotal detrimental role of monocytes HAS3-dependent pericellular HA matrix for an exaggerated immune cell recruitment to inflammatory foci giving here rise for an increased incidence of ruptured aortic aneurysms.