Figure 3.

Role of the CCL2-CCR2 axis in cardiovascular disease. The CCL2-CCR2 axis fosters monocyte mobilization from the bone marrow and recruits circulating monocytes to the site of the lesion. In plaques, monocytes are differentiated to macrophages, which proliferate, become foam cells, and coordinate the inflammatory response (A). In infarcted myocardial tissue, monocytes are recruited and differentiated into macrophages that influence MI disease progression (B). In hypertension, monocytes infiltrate into the vascular adventitia, perivascular fat, heart, kidney, and brain, and are involved in elevated blood pressure and end-organ damage (C). In cardiomyopathies (dilated cardiomyopathy as an example), monocytes infiltrate and differentiate into macrophages in the damaged myocardium and participate in the development and progression of cardiomyopathies (D). This figure was created with BioRender.com.