Sex-Specific Regulation of Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EndMT) During Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Sex differences in atherosclerotic plaque biology underlie clinically distinct manifestations of acute coronary syndromes, yet the molecular mechanisms driving these differences remain incompletely understood. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is increasingly recognized as a contributor to plaque remodeling, but whether EndMT is regulated in a sex-specific and stage-dependent manner across atherosclerosis has not been systematically examined. Here, we integrated bulk RNA sequencing with single-cell transcriptomic analyses in endothelial cells and human atherosclerotic plaques to define sex-specific EndMT regulation across healthy and advanced-stage disease. Using trajectory analyses in endothelial cells undergoing EndMT, we observed pronounced sex-specific regulation in healthy endothelium, with females exhibiting stronger early EndMT activation, whereas endothelial cells derived from atherosclerotic plaques displayed markedly attenuated sex differences with disease progression. Consistent sex-divergent pseudotime trajectories were observed in human carotid plaque endothelial single-cell RNA-seq data, with females showing greater EndMT activation at earlier stages and males at later stages. Together, these findings support a stage-dependent model of sex-specific EndMT regulation, indicating that the functional consequences of EndMT are highly context dependent and may differ across early and late disease stages. Integration of these datasets prioritized high-confidence sex-specific EndMT regulators, including COL4A1, PECAM1, CD151, JAG1, FN1, NEDD9, PODXL, MAFB, PROCR, and CDH13, providing a mechanistic framework to explain clinically observed sex differences in plaque biology and to guide targeted functional interrogation.