Fig. 4.

Smooth muscle-specific deletion ofNoxa1reduces vascular ROS and atherosclerotic lesion size inApoe^-/-mice. A, Representative images of aorta and colon transverse sections immunostained for NOXA1. B, Representative sections of aortas from ROSA26-GNZ KI/SM22α-CreKI mice stained with X-gal and hematoxylin & eosin. C, Representative images and en face analysis of oil red O-stained aortas from SM22-CreKI/Apoe^-/-, Noxa1^f/f/Apoe^-/- and Noxa1^SMC-/-/Apoe^-/- mice (mean±SEM, n = 10). D, Representative images and quantification of lesion volume of oil red O stained aortic sinus sections from Apoe^-/- and Noxa1^SMC-/-/Apoe^-/- mice. Atherosclerotic lesion volume was integrated from serial transverse sections (mean±SEM, n = 10). E, Representative images and quantification of DHE fluorescence in aortic root sections (mean±SEM, n = 10). F, Representative images of aortic sinus atherosclerotic lesions stained for immunoreactive CD68 (red), SM-α-actin (green) and with DAPI (blue). Dashed line denotes the plaque necrotic core region. L indicates the lumen; A, atheroma; M, media. G, Quantification of SM-α-actin⁺ cells in the cap and core region of atherosclerotic plaque as a percent of cells in the region of interest (ROI) (mean±SEM, n = 5). H, Quantification of CD68⁺ cells in the cap and core region of atherosclerotic plaque as a percent of cells in the region of interest (ROI) (mean±SEM, n = 5). Scale is 100 µm.