Knock-in of <i>Ikkα^AA/AA</i> in haematopoietic cells does not influence advanced atherosclerosis in <i>Apoe^−/−</i> mice.

<p><i>Apoe^−/−</i> mice were transplanted with <i>Ikkα^AA/AAApoe^−/−</i> or <i>Ikkα^+/+Apoe^−/−</i> BM and received a high-cholesterol diet for 13 weeks before analysis. (<b>A,B</b>) Body weight (A) and lipid analysis in blood serum (B) (n = 18). (<b>C</b>) Cholesterol levels after HPLC-based size fractionation of pooled blood serum samples. (<b>D,E</b>) Atherosclerotic lesion sizes in the aorta (D) and aortic root (E) (n = 16–19). Representative pictures of Oil-Red-O⁺ lipid depositions in aorta and aortic root are shown. Scale bar = 500 µm. (<b>F</b>) Classification of aortic root lesions according to their severity. Shown is the plaque distribution as percentage of the total number of lesions examined (n = 18–27). (A,B,D,E) Graphs represent the mean ± SEM; 2-tailed t-test, ***P<0.001.