CD8+ T-cells in atherosclerosis: recognizing their contribution

Atherosclerosis is the most prominent underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease and an important cause of major adverse cardiovascular events. Chronic inflammation drives growth and destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques. Recent single-cell technologies demonstrated that T-cells, including CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells, form a major immune population within human and mouse atherosclerotic lesions. These T-cells show signs of recent TCR activation, and clonal expansion, suggesting an autoimmune component in the progression of atherosclerosis. Although CD4+ T-cells have been widely studied in the context of atherosclerosis, understanding the implications of CD8+ T-cells in disease progression has proven to be more challenging, due to inconsistent findings. This thesis focuses on elucidating the effects of different CD8+ T-cell subsets, and their potential targets, within the atherosclerotic lesion. <br>