Journal: The Journal of Clinical Investigation

Article Title: ADAMTS7 promotes smooth muscle foam cell expansion in atherosclerosis

doi: 10.1172/JCI187451

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Schematic outlining experimental design and the generation of the SMC transgenic ADAMTS7 mouse. Created with BioRender.com. ( B ) ORO staining of the en face aorta and quantification of lesion area. n = 9. ( C ) Representative images of H&E-stained aortic root sections, quantification of plaque areas ( n = 6). Scale bar: 500 μm. ( D ) Representative images of H&E-stained aortic root sections with necrotic core outlined in dotted line ( n = 6 mice). Scale bar: 300 μm. ( E ) Representative images of aortic root sections stained against α-SMA (Cy3; red), MAC2 (Alexa Fluor 488 green), and cell nuclei (DAPI blue) with their subsequent quantification relative to lesion area ( n = 6). Scale bar: 300 μm. ( F ) Representative Picrosirius red staining of aortic root lesions with bars indicating fibrous cap thickness and quantification of fibrous cap thickness ( n = 6). Scale bar: 300 μm. ( G ) Schematic outlining experimental design and the generation of the EC transgenic ADAMTS7 mouse. Created with BioRender.com. ( H ) ORO staining of the en face aorta and quantification of lesion area. n = 3–4. ( I ) Representative images of H&E-stained aortic root sections and quantification of plaque areas ( n = 5–6). Scale bar: 500 μm. **** P < 0.0001, * P < 0.05. Statistics were analyzed using a 2-tailed Student’s t test.

Article Snippet: The sections then were stained using the following Abs and dilutions: 1:1,000 α-SMA-Cy3 (MilliporeSigma, C6198) and 1:500 MAC2 (Cedarlane, CL8942AP).

Techniques: Transgenic Assay, Staining

Journal: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

Article Title: Deficiency of Myeloid Pfkfb3 Protects Mice From Lung Edema and Cardiac Dysfunction in LPS-Induced Endotoxemia

doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.745810

Figure Lengend Snippet: Myeloid-specific Pfkfb3 deficiency attenuates LPS-induced inflammatory responses. (A) Representative images (left) and quantification (right) for immunohistochemical staining of the neutrophil marker Ly6G in lung sections of Pfkfb3 WT mice and Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ mice 6 h after LPS injection ( n = 5). (B) Representative images (left) and quantification (right) for immunohistochemical staining of the macrophage marker Mac2 in lung sections of Pfkfb3 WT mice and Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ mice 6 h after LPS injection ( n = 5). (C–E) qPCR analysis of the mRNA levels of Il1b (C) , Il6 (D) and Nos2 (E) in the lung of Pfkfb3 WT mice and Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ mice 6 h after LPS injection ( n = 6). (F,G) ELISA analysis of Il1b (F) and Il6 (G) in serum of Pfkfb3 WT mice and Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ mice 6 h after LPS injection ( n = 4). (H) NO levels in serum of Pfkfb3 WT mice and Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ mice 6 h after LPS injection ( n = 3–4). All data are represented as mean ± SEM, ** P < 0.01 and *** P < 0.001 for Pfkfb3 WT vs. Pfkfb3 ΔMϕ (unpaired two-tailed Student's t test).

Article Snippet: After antigen retrieval with Antigen Unmasking Solution (H-3301, Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA, USA) at 98°C for 10 min, sections were blocked with avidin solution with 10% normal rabbit serum for 1 h at room temperature, and incubated in biotin blocking solution with primary antibodies against Mac2 (3 μg/mL, CL8942F, Cedarlane, Burlington, NC, USA), or Ly6G (3 μg/mL, 551459, BD biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA) at 4°C overnight.

Techniques: Immunohistochemical staining, Staining, Marker, Injection, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Clinical and Translational Medicine

Article Title: Macrophage‐derived galectin‐3 contributes to pyroptosis, apoptosis and necroptosis through TLR4/MyD88/NF‐κB/NLRP3 during atherosclerosis

doi: 10.1002/ctm2.70637

Figure Lengend Snippet: Galectin‐3 expression is abundant in human and mouse atherosclerotic lesions. (A) Ten main cell types are visualised in atherosclerotic core (AC) and proximal adjacent (PA) tissues by tSNE (t‐distributed stochastic neighbour embedding). (B) The macrophage population significantly increased in AC relative to PA. (C) Biaxial scatter plots show the expression pattern of galectin‐3 in total cell types between AC and PA. The colour scale represents expression levels in biaxial scatter plots (grey: low; pink: high). (D) Galectin‐3‐positive macrophages expanded in AC in comparison with PA. (E) Five macrophage subtypes are visualised in AC and PA tissues by tSNE. (F) My.0 and My.1 account for 34.1% and 47.6% of macrophages in AC, respectively. My.2 significantly increased in AC relative to PA. (G) Biaxial scatter plots exhibit the expression pattern of galectin‐3 in macrophage subtypes between AC and PA. (H) Galectin‐3‐positive My.0 and My.1 account for 35.8% and 47.5% of galectin‐3‐positive macrophages in AC, respectively. Galectin‐3‐positive My.2 expands in AC in comparison with PA. (I) Representative Western blots and relative quantitative analysis of galectin‐3 in human atherosclerotic lesions and peripheral normal artery. (J) Triple immunofluorescence staining for galectin‐3 (red), NLRP3 (green), CD68 (pink) and DAPI (blue) in human atherosclerosis and peripheral normal artery reveals the colocalisation of galectin‐3 and NLRP3 in CD68‐positive macrophages. Scale bar: 50 µm. (K) Representative Western blots and relative quantitative analysis of galectin‐3 in the aortas of ApoE −/− mice fed with an HFD or normal diet. (L) Triple immunofluorescence staining for galectin‐3 (red), NLRP3 (green), CD68 (pink) and DAPI (blue) in human atherosclerosis and peripheral normal artery reveals that galectin‐3 and NLRP3 are colocalised in CD68‐positive macrophages. Scale bar: 50 µm. (M) Cell lysates from ox‐LDL‐treated macrophages are immuno‐precipitated with anti‐galectin‐3 or anti‐NLRP3 antibodies, and blotted with anti‐NLRP3 or anti‐galectin‐3 antibodies. Data are derived from three to five independent experiments. * p ˂.05, ** p ˂.01, *** p ˂.001 by Student's t test. ns: not significant.

Article Snippet: The whole cell lysates were sonicated and centrifuged at 12 000 × g for 15 min. Then the supernatant was incubated overnight with two antibody combinations: (i) anti‐NLRP3 (30109‐1‐AP, Proteintech) and anti‐galectin 3 (60207‐1‐Ig, Proteintech); (ii) anti‐TLR4 (19811‐1‐AP, Proteintech) and anti‐MyD88 (67969‐1‐Ig, Proteintech).

Techniques: Expressing, Comparison, Western Blot, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Derivative Assay