Inflammation and neutrophil extracellular traps in cerebral cavernous malformation

Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is a brain vascular disease with various neurological symptoms. In this study, we describe the inflammatory profile in CCM and show for the first time the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in rodents and humans with CCM. Through RNA-seq analysis of cerebellum endothelial cells from wild-type mice and mice with anendothelial cell-specific ablation of the Ccm3 gene (Ccm3iECKO), we show that endothelial cells from Ccm3iECKO mice have anincreased expression of inflammation-related genes. Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for cerebellar endothelial cells derived from two related mouse models of cerebral cavernous malformations, one model acute and the other chronic. Comparisons are made between wild-type and Ccm3 gene knock-out mice in both models.