Fig. 3.

The interference with mettl3 or mettl14 attenuates AAA in vivo. ApoE-/- mice were subcutaneously infused with Ang II. Before the Ang II treatment, the ApoE-/- Mice were infected with AAV9-mediated vectors, including AAV9-si-NC, AAV9-si-mettl3, or AAV9-si-mettl14, with 1 × 10¹¹ vg through tail vein injection (n = 10 in each group). A The experimental protocol. B Abdominal aorta diameter was detected at 14d and 28d using Doppler ultrasonography. C The image of the aorta in three groups. D The AAA incidence. E The mRNA expressions of mettl3 and mettl14 were detected using the qRT-PCR. gapdh was used as the internal control. Relative gene expression was calculated using the 2^−△△Ct method (n = 5, unpaired two-tailed t-test, **P < 0.01). The protein expressions of METTL3 and METTL14 were detected using western blotting. F-G HE staining and the EVG staining of the mouse aortic tissues (n = 5). H Immunofluorescence staining of the mouse aortic tissues using anti-c-caspase 3 and TUNEL assay (n = 5, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test, **P < 0.01 vs AAV-si-NC). I Immunohistochemistry of the mouse aortic tissues using anti-CD68 (n = 5, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs AAV-si-NC)