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. 2018 Dec 2;20:89–101. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.11.011

Figure 1.

Figure 1

CX3CL1-Fc reduces atherosclerotic lesions in a prevention model of atherosclerosis. (A) Circulating CX3CL1 levels after one injection of CX3CL1-Fc (30 mg/kg) in Ldlr KO mice. After injection, CX3CL1 levels were rapidly increased with stabilization at ∼2 nmol/L after 24 h (n = 4). (B) A schematic of prevention study design. CX3CL1-Fc/VEH treatment was started when mice were provided the high-fat/high-cholesterol Western Diet (WD) for 4 months. (C–F) Serum CX3CL1 and lipid content at sacrifice. (C) CX3CL1-Fc-treated mice have ∼14 times more serum CX3CL1 in their blood (n = 7–10). Body weight (D), serum cholesterol (E), FPLC cholesterol profile of Ldlr KO mice after 4 months of WD treated with CX3CL1-Fc/VEH (n = 13). (G) En face analysis of total aorta. Percent Sudan IV positive staining over total aortic area in Ldlr KO mice treated with CX3CL1-Fc/VEH, representative images are shown (n = 4–7). Cross-sectional aortic root analyses of lesion size (H) and necrotic area within lesions (I), representative images are shown to the right (n = 4–7). AUC, area under the curve. A.U., arbitrary unit. (J–M) Flow cytometry analysis of aortic cell digests showed no difference the in percentage of macrophages of CD45+ Live cells (J). However, there was a decrease in CD86+ M1-like polarized macrophages (K) and no change in CD206+ M2-like polarized macrophages (L) as a percent of total macrophages (CD64+ CD11b+) in mice treated with CX3CL1-Fc (n = 9). Also, a decrease in CD3+ T cells (M) as a percent of CD45+ Live cells was observed in aortic cell digests of CX3CL1-Fc treated mice (n = 9). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. #p < 0.05 (one-tailed t-test). For all panels, values are mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001.