Macrophage autophagy induced by drugs and mTOR-siRNA alleviated vulnerability index.

<p>The vulnerability index can be calculated as: (macrophage staining %+ lipid staining %)/(smooth muscle cell %+ collagen fiber %). So we conducted Sirius red (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090563#pone-0090563-g005" target="_blank">Fig. 5</a>) and oil red O staining together with IH for macrophages (RAM-11) (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090563#pone-0090563-g005" target="_blank">Fig. 5</a>) and smooth muscle cells (α-SMA). (A, B) Oil Red O Staining was taken for lipid content evaluation and was expressed as a percentage verse the whole vessel lumen. Our result revealed much smaller plaque in aorta abdominals in group A2, B2 and C2 compared to group D2. (C) IH analysis of α-SMA amount did not detect difference in plaque area among the four groups. L represents for vascular lumen, P represents for plaque. (D) Vulnerability was calculated by macrophage, lipid, α-SMA and collagen. It was significantly lower in the experimental group than the control group. A2: triciribine; B2: rapamycin; C2: mTOR-siRNA; D2: control; ^*<i>P</i><0.01 vs control.