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. 2015 Oct 16;4(10):e002156. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002156

Figure 5.

Figure 5

A, Confirmation of gene expression profiles of CRP, CD55, and CTSD by qRT‐PCR. The mRNA‐levels were assessed in the same tissue used for the microarrays (A33, A36, A66, A67) and in 4 additional independent early valvular cusp lesions (grade 1) not used for the microarray study before (A32, A35, A38, A39) and normalized to GAPDH as reference gene. Liver tissue was used as positive control. B, Representative (not sequential) sections of the 4 grades of aortic valve calcification and structural damage stained for CRP (left panels), CD55 (middle panels), and CTSD (right panels). Note the lack of extracellular CRP staining in early valvular cusp lesions (grade 1) and increasing extracellular staining around calcified areas of grades 2 to 4 lesions, focal extracellular deposition of CD55, and the marked intracellular staining of foam cells with CTSD. The fibrosa with the aortic side of the valve is to the top. CRP indicates C‐reactive protein; CTSD, cathepsin D; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate dehydrogenase; qRT‐PCR, quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction.