Galectin‐3 promoted THP‐1‐derived macrophage activation. THP‐1 cells were infected by short hairpin RNA (shRNA)‐Gal‐3, shRNA‐negative control (NC), lentivirus‐Gal‐3, lentivirus‐NC, then induced to differentiate into macrophage by phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate. (a, b) Galectin‐3 protein was examined by Western blotting after infection. (c−f) Macrophages were stimulated with oxidized low‐density lipoprotein (ox‐LDL) for 24 hr. (c) Lipid accumulation was assessed by oil red O stain. (d) IL‐6, TNF‐α, and IL‐1β expression in macrophage was evaluated by real‐time PCR. (e, f) CD11b and CD86 expression on macrophage was measured by flow cytometry. Data are represented as mean ± SD. n ≥ 3. *
p < 0.05, **
p < 0.01, and ***
p < 0.001 versus respective control group. Scale bar = 100 μm. PBS: phosphate‐buffered saline [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]