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. 2026 Apr 23;17:5648. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72203-3

Fig. 4. The endothelial barrier is disrupted in the early stage of TAAD, and CD34/LNP-CAR mRNA successfully transforms CAR-CD34+ HSPCs in circulation to target the aortic endothelial lesion.

Fig. 4

a Schematic scheme of the experimental design to assess the aortic endothelium injury and aortic dilation in the BAPN-induced TAAD murine model. Created in BioRender. Zhao, K. (2024) https://BioRender.com/z57v924. b Representative echocardiography imaging and quantitative analyses of the maximum ascending aortic diameter of the control group, as well as on days 7, 14, and 21 of the BAPN-inducement. Data in (b) are from 5 biologically independent samples. c Representative gross picture and quantitative analyses of the incidence of TAAD in the control group, as well as on days 7, 14, and 21 of the BAPN-inducement. Results in (c) are from 3 independent experiments. d Western blot analyses of the aortic CD31 and CD34 expressions. e Quantitative analyses of CD31 and CD34 expression. Data in (e) are from 3 biologically independent samples. f Representative VCAM-1 IHC imaging of the aorta from the control group and on days 7, 14, and 21 of the BAPN-inducement. Data in (f) are representative images from two independent experiments. g Flow cytometry was performed to characterize the time-dependent circulating CAR-CD34+ HSPCs between groups. h Quantitative analyses of the circulating CAR-CD34+ HSPCs. Results in (h) are from 3 independent experiments. i IF colocalization studies on Cy5 and CD34 of aorta from the control, LNP-CAR mRNA, CD34/LNP, and CD34/LNP-CAR mRNA groups. j Quantitative analyses of Cy5 intensity. Results in (j) are from 3 independent experiments. All data are presented as mean ± s.d. Statistical significance and P- values of (b, e, h, and j) were analyzed by using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (two-sided). Statistical significance and P-values of (c) were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (two-sided). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Scale bars, 20 μm (d); 20 μm (f); 10 μm (i). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.