Slug is involved in the platelet‐derived growth factor‐BB (PDGF‐BB)–mediated downregulation of genes involved in cholesterol efflux. Dil‐labeled oxidized low‐density lipoprotein (Dil‐ox‐LDL, 10 μg/mL, 16 hours) uptake by control‐ (Ctl) or Slug‐siRNA transfected rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) pretreated with vehicle or PDGF‐BB (10 ng/mL, 6 hours). Cells are fixed with paraformaldehyde and 4′,6′‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole stained for analysis by fluorescence microscopy (×20, A, upper panel) or directly analyzed by flow cytometry (A, lower panel). A, Upper panel: snapshots representative of 3 independent experiments where 6 different fields per condition were examined. A, Lower panel: flow cytometry histogram representative of 3 independent experiments. B, Transcripts expression of ATP‐binding cassette subfamily A1 (ABCA1) and G1 (ABCG1). Polymerase chain reaction results are expressed as the mean relative ratio (target gene/reference gene cyclophilin A [CycloA]) obtained from 4 experiments vs Ctl siRNA transfected cells: *P<0.05; vs Ctl siRNA‐transfected cells treated with PDGF‐BB: #
P<0.05.