Fig. 6. CLEC4A2 promotes tissue adaptation of vascular resident macrophages in the steady state and atherosclerosis.

a Schematic of competitive BM chimera experiments in the steady state and in atherosclerosis. Mixed BM (50 % WT (CD45.1 CD45.2 heterozygous) and 50% Clec4a2^−/− (CD45.2)) cells were transplanted into WT (CD45.1) mice or Ldlr^−/− (CD45.1) mice. The Ldlr^−/− chimeras received a HFD for 12 weeks. Aortic cells were analysed by mass cytometry. b tSNE clustering of myeloid cells in aortas of WT and Ldlr^−/− chimeric mice by mass cytometry. Myeloid populations were clustered based on the expression of 21 markers. Each population was divided by their origin using CD45.1 and CD45.2 marker expression. c Representative density plots of myeloid cells in the aorta of WT recipient mice by WT and Clec4a2^−/− donor origins. (n = 9 mice each, pooled from three independent experiments). d–f Representative mass cytometry plots and percentages of resident macrophages, Ly6C⁺ monocytes, and cDC2 from each origin in the aorta of the WT host. Two-tailed Student’s t-test. Resident Mac: ****P < 0.0001, Ly6C⁺ Mon: ***P = 0.0003, cDC2: ****P < 0.0001. g Representative density plots of myeloid cells in the aorta of HFD-fed Ldlr^−/− mice by WT and Clec4a2^−/− donor origins (n = 9, pooled from three independent experiments). h–k Representative mass cytometry plots and percentages of resident macrophages, CD11c⁺ macrophages, Ly6C⁺ monocytes and cDC2 from each origin in the aorta of the Ldlr^−/− host. Two tailed Student’s t-test. Resident Mac, CD11c⁺ Mac and Ly6C⁺ Mon: ****P < 0.0001, cDC2: **P = 0.0011. All data are presented as mean ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.