CXCL2, a new critical factor and therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases

ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Previous studies have shown that inflammatory chemokines are involved in the physiological functions of cytoskeletal reorganization, cell migration, adhesion and immune responses. However, in the past decade, there have been studies showing that inflammatory chemokines play a key role in CVD. Importantly, CXC motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. CXCL2 exerts its effects on the cardiovascular system by mediating inflammatory responses, but the specific signaling pathways by which CXCL2 exerts its effects in CVD remain unknown and need to be further investigated. This review aims to investigate the expression changes of CXCL2 in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), atherosclerosis (AS), obesity, diabetes and ischemic stroke (IS) and its potential key role in cardiovascular disease in order to provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• CXCL2
• inflammation
• atherosclerosis
• cardiovascular disease

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This project was financed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grand numbers 81600040 to AP Wang], the province Natural Science Foundation of Hu Nan [grand numbers 2017JJ3279 to AP Wang; 2017JJ3141 to LJ Peng], the Postdoctoral Science Fund of China [grant number 2017M622589 to AP Wang], Key Lab for Clinical Anatomy & Reproductive Medicine of Hengyang City (grand numbers 2017KJ182).