Figure 5.

Neutrophil elastase (NE) gene inactivation results in a stable atherosclerotic phenotype. Both wild‐type (WT) and NE^−/−/Apoliporotein E^−/− double knockout (NE_KO) male mice were fed a high‐fat diet for 12 weeks. Aortic roots from WT and NE_KO mice were harvested and subjected to immunofluorescent staining analyses using antibodies against smooth muscle α‐actin (SMαA) (A), CD45 (B), Gr1 (C), or CD68 (D), respectively. Respective representative images and quantitative data from 12 WT and 11 NE_KO mice, respectively, are presented. Dot lines indicate the boundary between media layer and atherosclerotic lesion. *P<0.05 (vs WT mice).