Phenotypic analysis of atherosclerotic lesions in SRA-TGF-ß1 ApoE^−/− mice.

<p><b>A</b> Box and whisker diagrams (median, interquartile range, minimum, and maximum; n.s. = not significant) of the quantification of macrophages (upper panel), SMCs (middle panel) and collagen (lower panel) in atherosclerotic lesions of SRA-TGF-ß1 ApoE^−/− females and isogenic ApoE^−/− controls after 8, 16 and 24 weeks on the WTD, respectively. <b>B</b> Representative histological slides of atherosclerotic lesions located in the inner aortic arch intima (lesser curvature) of SRA-TGF-ß1 ApoE^−/− mutants and ApoE^−/− controls after 24 weeks on the WTD. The slides have been stained for macrophages, SMCs, and collagen by using a rat anti-mouse F4/80 antibody (upper panel), a mouse anti-smooth muscle α-actin antibody (middle panel), and picrosirius red with subsequent polarization (lower panel). Percent-positive area for macrophages (upper panels, asterisks), SMCs (middle panels, brown-stained areas), and collagen (lower panels, areas with yellow, green, orange, or red polarized colour) were quantified by Photoshop-based image analysis. The aortic lumen is to the upper left corner. The demarcation between intima and media is indicated by black arrowheads. In the lower panel, note that the adventitial tissue (asterisk) also polarizes after picrosirius red staining (internal positive control).