Fig. 5

The in vivo role of miR-143/145 in P. gingivalis-infected animals. a Construction of miR-143/145^−/−ApoE^−/− mice for 12 weeks HFD feeding, together with P. gingivalis infection or not. b Oil Red O staining showed the aorta en face in miR-143/145^−/−ApoE^−/− or miR-143/145^+/+ApoE^−/− mice, with quantitative data of plaque area at the right. n = 6. c Immunostaining staining of apoptotic SMCs (Cleaved caspase3⁺ α-SMA⁺ cells) and Siglec-G⁺ macrophages (Siglec-G⁺ F4/80⁺ cells) in serial plaque sections from miR-143/145^−/−ApoE^−/− or miR-143/145^+/+ApoE^−/− mice. Cl casp3 Cleaved caspase3. n = 6. Scale bars: 50 μm. d Quantitative analysis of apoptotic SMCs and Siglec-G⁺ macrophages in the aorta. e Construction of ApoE^−/−LysMcre^−/− mice with P. gingivalis infection or not for 12 weeks HFD feeding and intravenously injected with rAAV9-control or rAAV9-miR-143/145 vector once a week. f Immunostaining staining of apoptotic SMCs and Siglec-G⁺ macrophages in serial plaque sections from miR-143/145^−/−ApoE^−/− or miR-143/145^+/+ApoE^−/− mice. The arrowhead indicates apoptotic SMCs. Arrow indicates Siglec-G⁺ macrophages. n = 6. Scale bars: 50 μm. Results are presented as the mean ± S.D. by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey multiple comparisons tests. *P< 0.05; **P < 0.01