Figure 1.

Lentivirus-based ALOX15 overexpression in the rat carotid artery and the effect of ALOX15 on neointima formation in rat balloon-injured (BI) carotid arteries. (a) Representative images showing no detectable green fluorescence after 7 days, but pronounced fluorescence after 14 days, in the neointima of carotid arteries after transfection with lentiviral constructs coexpressing GFP. (b) Western blot analyses showed that Lv-ALOX15 upregulated ALOX15 protein expression. (c) EIAs showed that Lv-ALOX15 upregulated linoleic acid metabolite 13-HODE. (d) Immediately after BI, arteries were treated with normal saline, Lv-GFP, or Lv-ALOX15. Representative photomicrographs of carotid arteries 14 days after BI. The artery cross sections were stained with HE. (e) Quantitative analysis of IMT. The arrows indicate endothelial cells expressing GFP. The scale bar represents 100 μm. Results are expressed as mean ± SD. NS: not significant. N = 4 or 6 per group.