Figure 7.

High magnification confocal images showing co-localization of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) (A,A′), C-reactive protein (CRP) (B,B′), and SAP (C,C′) with C5b-9 in human atherosclerotic plaques. In the necrotic core (A–C), PTX3, CRP, and SAP (green) surrounded black areas (arrows) likely corresponding to cholesterol clefts, and partially co-localized with C5b-9 (red). In the tunica media (A′–C′), PTX3, CRP, and SAP were present to a lesser extent than in the necrotic core, and showed scarce co-localization with C5b-9. Images in (A′–C′) showed the specific signal for each of the proteins obtained after deletion of the collagen-associated unselective fluorescence typical of the tunica media. Images are representative of four plaques analyzed per marker. Scale bars = 20 µm.