Figure 1. PKCδ signaling in SMCs regulates re-endothelialization.

(A) Representative images of uninjured femoral arteries harvested from Prkcd^fl/fl mice, Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^wt/wt, and Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^fl/fl mice 3 weeks after tamoxifen (TM) injection. Sections were immunostained for PKCδ (red). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). The locations of the internal and external elastic lamina defining the boundaries of the media are shown as white dashed lines. Scale bar = 50 μm. (B) Schematic design of wire injury study. (C) Representative Evans blue dye-stained carotid arteries harvested 7 days after wire-injury to Prkcd^fl/fl+TM, Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^wt/wt+TM, and Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^fl/fl+TM mice. Boundaries of injured areas are indicated by dashed lines. Reendothelialization was determined by the percentage of Evans blue negative area over the total injured area using ImageJ software. Scale bar = 1 mm. Results are expressed as mean±SEM. n=4, *p<0.05, One-way ANOVA. (D) Representative images and quantifications of wire-injured femoral arteries harvested from Prkcd^fl/fl mice and Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^fl/fl mice 3 days post-injury. Sections were immunostained for vWF (red). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). The locations of the internal and external elastic lamina defining boundaries of the media are shown as white dashed lines. Scale bar = 50 μm. Results are expressed as mean±SEM. n=3, *p<0.05, Two-tailed Student’s t-test. (E) Representative images and quantifications of wire-injured femoral arteries harvested from Prkcd^fl/fl, Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^wt/wt, and Myh11-CreER^T2-Prkcd^fl/fl mice 28 days post-injury. Sections were immunostained for Haemotoxylin and Eosin (H&E). The locations of the internal and external elastic lamina defining boundaries of the media are shown as black dashed lines. Scale bar = 50 μm. The intima area to media area ratio (I/M ratio) was measured as described in the Methods. Results are expressed as mean±SEM. n= 7-8, *p<0.05, One-way ANOVA.