Fig. 9. T cell Abca1/Abcg1 deficiency increases macrophage content in atherosclerotic lesions from middle-aged Ldlr^−/− mice.

Ldlr^−/− and T-Abc^dkoLdlr^−/− mice were fed a chow diet for 12–13 months. a–d Hearts were isolated and paraffin sections of the aortic root were stained for (a–c) Mac-2 and DAPI, or (d–f) Mac-2, Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), and Hoechst. a Representative pictures of Mac-2 staining (left) and quantification (right) of total Mac-2⁺ area. b Mac-2⁺ area as a percentage of total atherosclerotic lesion area (p = 0.046). a, b n = 10 Ldlr^−/− and n = 10 T-Abc^dkoLdlr^−/− mice. c Representative pictures of Mac-2 and TUNEL stainings (left) and quantification (right) of total TUNEL⁺Mac-2⁺ area. Apoptotic macrophages were identified as Mac-2⁺TUNEL⁺ and are depicted by arrows. d TUNEL⁺Mac-2⁺ area as a percentage of total Mac-2⁺ area (p = 0.030). c, d n = 10 Ldlr^−/− and n = 10 T-Abc^dkoLdlr^−/− mice. a, c Scale bar represents 100 μm. e Aortas from Ldlr^−/− and T-Abc^dkoLdlr^−/− mice were collected, CD3⁻ cells were isolated, RNA was extracted, and integrin subunit alpha M (Itgam), CC-chemokine ligand 2 (Ccl2) (p = 0.028), Il6, Il1b (p = 0.030), Tnf (p = 0.033), Il10, intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (Icam1), Il23a, resistin-like alpha (Retnla), and chitinase-like 3 (Chil3) (p = 0.0056) mRNA expression were measured by qPCR. n = 7 Ldlr^−/− and n = 5 T-Abc^dkoLdlr^−/− mice. For all panels, error bars represent SEM. Biologically independent samples were included. p value was determined by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. *p < 0.05. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.