Study design and efficiency of bone marrow transplantation.

<p><b>(A)</b> Lethally-irradiated <i>Ldlr</i>^<i>-/-</i> mice (CD45.1, 8 to 10-week-old) were transplanted with cells obtained from bone marrow (BM) of wt or <i>miR-146a</i>^-/- mice (both CD45.2). After 4 weeks of recovery, mice were challenged with a high-fat diet for 8 and 20 weeks. Blood and aorta were collected for biochemical and expression studies and to quantify atherosclerosis burden. <b>(B)</b> Quantification of transplant efficiency in both groups of mice as determined by flow cytometry of blood extracted 1 month after BM transplant. Donor and host cells are CD45.2- and CD45.1-immunoreactive, respectively. Representative flow cytometry profiles are shown below the chart. <b>(C)</b> Body weight at different times after the onset of HFD. <b>(D)</b> Pre and post diet miR-146a levels in blood leukocytes were measured by qRT-PCR. The 2^-ΔCt method was used to calculate miRNA abundance relative to U6 (Ct = Threshold Cycle; ΔCt = Ct sample gene − Ct endogenous control). **: p<0.01, ***: p<0.001 BM wt vs BM <i>miR-146a</i>^-/- at both time points. (<b>E</b>) Spleen from BM wt or BM <i>miR-146a</i>^-/- mice were weighed after 20 weeks of HFD. Shown are representative images of spleens and femurs.