Figure 3.

Immunization with P6 enhanced development of atherosclerosis in Western diet-fed Apoe^−/− mice. Apoe^−/− mice were fed a high-fat diet for 5 weeks. Groups of mice were then immunized with P3, P6, MOG_35–55, or saline emulsified with complete Freund’s adjuvant by procedures described in Table 1. Two weeks later, mice were given a boost with 100 μg of the same priming peptide subcutaneously at the back. Three weeks later, aortas were isolated according to the procedures developed in the Eitzman Lab (29). After staining with Oil Red O, the aorta was pinned on wax. Pinned aortic tissue was imaged, and the surface area occupied by atherosclerotic plaques was quantified at the aortic arch and major branches with Image-Pro Plus software. The lesion area was expressed as a percentage of total surface area examined. (A) Representative aortas from each group. (B) Dot plot of data.