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. 2021 Jun 10;8:688546. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.688546

Figure 1.

Figure 1

LncRNAs regulate cholesterol homeostasis in hepatocytes and macrophages. LncRNAs in the liver regulate cholesterol accumulation, cholesterol efflux, cholesterol biosynthesis, and cholesterol metabolism. LncRNAs control cholesterol accumulation and cholesterol efflux in atherosclerotic plaques. LncRNAs regulate ABCA1 expression and inhibit cholesterol efflux to lipid poor apoA-I, which initiates nascent high-density lipoproteins (HDLs). LncRNAs control SREBP1, ACC1, SCD1, FASN, CYP7A1, and ACSL1 expression in hepatocytes. Meantime, lncRNAs also regulate NFIA, ApoE, CDKN2B, RAB22A, CD36, ABCG1, and ADAM10 expression in the macrophages accumulated in atherosclerotic plaques. Free cholesterol in the nascent HDL is further esterified to cholesteryl ester by lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), which results in the formation of mature HDL particles. Purple indicates lncRNAs. Black represents the target genes regulated by LncRNAs. Blue, inhibit; Red, promote.