Fig. 5: The correlation between multimodal imaging signals and plaque burden severity.
a Schematic illustration of ex vivo imaging and histological analysis of the aorta following intravenous administration of the probe in AS mice, validating its capability for plaque detection and progression monitoring. Created in BioRender. Li, W. (2026) https://BioRender.com/fjkdy86. b NIR-II FL image of the aorta, with an excitation wavelength of 808 nm and emission collected using a 1000 nm long-pass filter. The aortic sample was sectioned into four segments (A to D) based on the NIR-II fluorescence signal intensity. c Corresponding PA images at 790 nm excitation and T1-weighted MR images for different aortic segments. d Quantification of T1-weighted MR signal intensity (red line) and PA intensity (blue bars) for the corresponding aortic segments. e Histological analysis of different aortic segments using H&E and ORO staining, with plaques outlined by solid black curves. Scale bars: 200 μm. f Quantification of the mean plaque area and necrotic core area based on H&E staining (n = 3 independent experiments). g Measurement of mean fibrous cap thickness from H&E images (n = 3 independent experiments). h Confocal fluorescent images of different segments stained with anti-F4/80 antibody and DCFH-DA, indicating macrophage infiltration (orange fluorescence), and ROS levels (green fluorescence), respectively. Plaques are marked by yellow dotted curves. Scale bars: 100 μm. i Comparative analysis of NIR-II fluorescence signal intensity, PA signal, MR signal, necrotic area, ROS levels, and macrophage infiltration levels across different aortic segments (n = 3 independent experiments). All data are expressed as mean ± SD. For b–e, h, experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
