Raised Soluble P-Selectin Moderately Accelerates Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression
Figure 7
Collagen, CD45+, CD68+, α-SMA and apoptotic cell content and plaque stability scores in SM22α-hDTR ApoE−/− HFD after sP-selectin treatment for 16 weeks.
A) Sections of each aortic segment were analysed for collagen content by immunohistochemistry after 16 weeks of daily s.c injections (22.5 µg/kg/day) of vehicle control (saline matched volume; white bar), sP-selectin (black bar) or sE-selectin (checkered bar). Representative images are given below. Sections of each aortic segment were analysed for B) CD68+ (representative images shown below) and C) CD45+ cells by immunohistochemistry after 16 weeks of daily s.c injections (22.5 µg/kg/day) of vehicle control (saline matched volume; white bar), sP-selectin (black bar) or sE-selectin (checkered bar) D) αSMA content or E) apoptotic cell content (% TUNEL) by immunohistochemistry after 16 weeks of daily s.c injections (22.5 µg/kg/day) of vehicle control (saline matched volume; white bar), sP-selectin (black bar) or sE-selectin (checkered bar). F) Plaque stability scores were defined as ratio of collagen content over lipid area after 16 weeks of daily s.c injections (22.5 µg/kg/day) of vehicle control (saline matched volume; white bar), sP-selectin (black bar) or sE-selectin (checkered bar). n = 6–9 mice per treatment group. Data represented as Mean (% stain or score) ± SEM where * represents P<0.05 (from saline or indicated treatment) as analysed by One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test or unpaired student’s t-test (C, D). Scale bars = 100 µm.