Fig. 6.

Infiltration of CD137-costimulated effector CD8 T cells is persistent within low and disturbed flow (LDF) foci. A: experimental setup for mixed adoptive transfer of wild-type (WT) (CD45.1) and CD137^−/− (Het CD45.1/2) Ova-specific CD8 T cells. Total no. of transferred cells is kept consistent throughout all adoptive transfer experiments. B: normolipidemic mice were harvested 5 and 11 days postimmunization (dpi) with cognate SIINFEKL and agonist anti-CD137 mAb. Percentage (gated on viable cells) of each transferred population isolated from the aortic arch; ^nsP > 0.12 by unpaired 2-tailed Student’s t-test; n = 5 mice/time point. C: count of transferred CD8 T cells per spleen and per 400 µl of blood decreases dramatically from 5 to 11 dpi (*P < 0.03, **P < 0.01), whereas infiltration of transferred WT Ova-specific CD8 T cells within the aortic arch does not (^nsP ≥ 0.3). Significance determined by 2-group t-test; n = 5 mice/time point. D: percentage (gated on viable cells) of endogenous CD8 populations isolated from the aortic arch. ****P < 0.0001 by 2-group t-test; n = 5 mice/time point. E: hyperlipidemic partial carotid artery ligation (PCAL) mice [AAV-mPCSK9 mice on high-fat diet (HFD) as in Fig. 2A] received mixed transfer of WT and CD137^−/− Ova-specific CD8 T cells. Mice were harvested 17 dpi, and the percentage of each indicated population isolated from either ligated LDF carotids or the contralateral control right carotids are shown. ^nsP > 0.1, ****P < 0.0001 via paired t-test; n = 7 mice/group.