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. 2015 Oct 26;125(12):4544–4558. doi: 10.1172/JCI82871

Figure 3. SMC-specific SCD1 and SCD2 double deficiency induces vascular calcification, ER stress, and vascular apoptosis.

Figure 3

(A) Representative photograph (×10) of the lesions of aortic sinuses stained with von Kossa. Mice (n = 8) were sacrificed after 10 weeks of tamoxifen injections. Quantitative analysis of calcified lesions in the (B) aortic sinus and (C) aortic arch. (D) Aortic calcium content in SMC-Scd1/2 KO mice. (E) mRNA levels of ER stress, osteogenic differentiation, and SMC markers in VSMCs. VSMCs were isolated by immunomagnetic cell sorting. Scd1 and Scd2 mRNA expression was determined by qPCR. (F) Immunoblot analysis of ATF4 and CHOP protein expression in the medial layer of aortas of SMC-Scd1/2 KO mice. (G) Representative micrographs show more TUNEL+ signal (red) in nuclei (blue) of aortic sinus lesions from control and SMC-Scd1/2 KO mice. (H) Quantitative analysis of TUNEL+ nuclei conducted on lesions from SMC-Scd1/2 KO mice. (I) Immunofluorescence analysis of CHOP in the aortic sinuses of SMC-Scd1/2 KO mice. *P < 0.01 and **P < 0.001 vs. control mice (2-tailed Student’s t test).