{"doi":"10.1016/j.vph.2024.107438","title":"Functional characterization of human IL-8 in vascular stenosis using a novel humanized transgenic mouse model","abstract":"IL-8 (aka interleukin 8, CXCL8) is a prototypic cytokine that is highly expressed in the diseased vessel wall and its plasma concentration is strongly associated with cardiovascular events. However, whether IL-8 plays a causative role in cardiovascular diseases remains largely unknown. In this study we used a human IL-8 transgenic (Tg) mouse strain with a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) integrated into its genome. This BAC encompasses 166 kb of sequence encompassing the human IL-8 gene locus as well as upstream and downstream DNA sequences containing regulatory elements. This BAC ensured a pathophysiologically regulated, rather than forced constitutive, expression of human IL-8 in the mouse. Tg mice were subjected to complete carotid ligation injury. IL-8 was highly expressed in the ligation-injured carotid artery from 3 days until 2 weeks after injury. As a result, exacerbated neointimal hyperplasia and increased Mac2 and PCNA positive cells were observed in Tg mice. To further confirm its role in promoting neointimal formation, IL-8 was neutralized by anti-IL8 treatment at the ligation site. Consequently, the size of neointima was significantly reduced. Our results provided new insights into the regulation and function of IL-8 in response to vascular insult and during neointima formation. • Bacteria Artificial Chromosome (BAC) transgenic (Tg) IL-8 mice is a powerful tool for the in vivo study of human IL-8 in vascular diseases. • IL-8 was not expressed in the healthy arteries of Tg mice. • IL-8 was highly expressed in the ligated carotid artery of Tg mice and promoted neointimal hyperplasia. • Anti-IL-8 neutralized IL-8 at the ligated artery and largely attenuated neointima formation.","journal":"Vascular Pharmacology","year":2024,"id":472300,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9654,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1307771,"name":"Li‐Hua Pan","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1307375,"name":"Xiaoliang Wu","orcid":"0009-0003-9643-5518","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":556704,"name":"Orazio J. Slivano","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":483633,"name":"Kunzhe Dong","orcid":"0000-0003-0039-9835","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":555968,"name":"Xiaochun Long","orcid":"0000-0001-9714-0023","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":555965,"name":"Wei Zhang","orcid":"0000-0002-2077-3188","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":39,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:05:53.032464Z","pmid":"39486776","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}