Fig. 6
Lack of MT4-MMP in patrolling monocytes leads to the accumulation of Mafb+AIM+ macrophages in incipient atherosclerotic plaques. a Representative images of transverse sections of aortic sinus from Ldlr–/– mice transplanted with MT4-MMP+/+ (MT4+/+) or MT4-MMP–/– (MT4–/–) BM cells and fed a HFD for 1 week; sections were labeled for Mac3 (green), Mafb (red), and AIM (white), and with Hoechst (blue; nuclei); scale bar, 10 µm. b Number of Mac3+ cells (left), Mac3+Mafb+ cells (middle), and Mac3+Mafb+AIM+ cells (right) in the plaques of BM-transplanted Ldlr–/– mice fed a HFD for 1 week. c Representative images of transverse sections of aortic sinus from BM-transplanted Ldlr–/– mice fed a HFD for 1 week; sections were labeled for Mac3 (green), Mafb (red), and adipophilin (white), and with Hoechst (blue; nuclei); scale bar, 10 µm. d Relative % of adipophilin-positive and adipophilin-negative cells within the Mac3+Mafb+ population of BM-transplanted Ldlr–/– mice (1 week on HFD); n = 7 mice per genotype in two independent experiments. Data were tested by two-tailed Student’s t-test in b and by Fisher’s exact test in d. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05
