Figure 7.

Inhibition of miR-33b in miR-33b KI mice prevents the secretion of MCP-1 and conserves the structure of VSMCs. (a) Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for αSMA (red), MCP-1 (green), and DAPI (blue). Scale bar indicates 200 µm for low power-field and 50 µm for high power-field. (b) Quantification of the MCP-1-positive area in sections of the CaCl₂-induced AAA wall (left) and serum MCP-1 concentration using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (right), n = 5 mice for immunofluorescence staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Unpaired two-tailed t test (left and right). **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. (c) Serum TNF-α concentration of CaCl₂-induced AAA mice with administration of the indicated AMOs, n = 6 mice in each group. Unpaired two-tailed t test. **P < 0.01. (d) Real-time PCR analysis of classical M1 and M2 markers of CaCl₂-induced AAA mice with administration of the indicated AMOs, n = 6 mice in each group. Unpaired two-tailed t test (Mmp9, Tnf, Ccl2, Nos2, Arg1, Tgfb1, Retnla, Il10 and Il13) and Mann–Whitney test (Il1b, Il6 and Il4). *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01. All data represent mean ± SEM.