Fig. 4: Grx1 deficiency in chow-fed female Grx1^-/- mice promotes atherogenesis and drives macrophage recruitment and protein S-glutathionylation in atherosclerotic lesions.

a Representative images of Oil Red O-stained sections from the aorta root of an 18-month-old female Grx1^-/- mice and an age-matched male and female C57BL/6 J mouse (WT) maintained on a normal chow diet. Scale bar = 100 μm. Insert: Scale bar = 20 μm. b Quantitation of lesion area in the aortic root of male and female Grx1^-/- mice and age-matched male and female C57BL/6 J mice (WT) maintained on a normal chow diet for 18 months. n = 5–6 mice per group. c Representative images of aorta root sections stained with either rat IgG2a (Control) or a macrophage-specific antiserum against CD68 (CD68) from an 18-month-old female Grx1^-/- mice and an age-matched female C57BL/6 J mouse (WT). Scale bar = 50 μm. d Macrophage content of atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta root of 18-month-old female Grx1^-/- mice and age-matched male and female C57BL/6 J mice (WT) maintained on a normal chow diet for 18 months. n = 5–6 mice per group with male and female Grx1^-/- mice and age-matched male and female C57BL/6 J mice (WT). e,f Representative images of aorta root sections labeled in situ for S-glutathionylated proteins (green), stained with either rat IgG2a (Control, red) or a macrophage-specific antiserum against CD68 (red) and DAPI (blue) to identify nuclei. Colocalization of protein S-glutathionylation and CD68-positive areas are shown in yellow. Magnification: 60x; Scale bar = 10 μm. All data are expressed as mean ± S.D. One-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s Least Significance Difference test was used to compare the mean values between experimental groups. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.