Fig 1. Timeline for initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.
(A) For the initiation study, Panx1 deletion was induced at 6 weeks of age by tamoxifen injection for consecutive 4 days. When mice reached 10 weeks of age, blood was taken from female and male Panx1LECdelApoe-/- and control Panx1fl/flApoe-/- mice and they were placed on a HCD for 6 weeks. At 16 weeks of age, mice were killed and blood and different tissues were collected. (B) For the progression study, blood was sampled at 6 weeks of age and atherosclerosis was induced in control Panx1fl/flApoe-/- and Panx1LECdelApoe-/- mice by feeding them with a HCD for 10 weeks. Four weeks after the start of the HCD, Panx1 deletion was induced with tamoxifen injections. At the end of the 10 weeks HCD period, mice were killed and blood and tissues were collected.