Figure 2

Deletion of hematopoietic CARD9, but not Dectin-2, increased atherosclerotic plaque formation. After 10 weeks of Western-type diet (WTD) feeding, hearts were collected from Ldlr^−/− mice transplanted with BM from control (WT), Dectin-2^−/− or Card9^−/− and aortic roots were analyzed by Immunohistochemistry. (A) Aortic valves were stained with hematoxylin-phloxine-saffron (HPS) and representative pictures are shown (scale bar represents 100 μm). (B) Total atherosclerotic lesion area was assessed in 4 sections of the aortic root and (C) average lesion area was calculated. (D) Lesion severity of was accessed following the guidelines of the American Heart Association adapted to mice and shown as percentage of total lesions. Data for atherosclerotic plaque composition are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 13–14/group. *p < 0.05.