Fig. 4

Autophagy influences atherosclerogenesis. a Atherosclerotic lesions (red arrows) in the aorta were examined after 8 weeks of treatment by an intravascular ultrasonic imaging system; (b) Atherosclerotic lesion formation (blue arrows) under Oil Red O staining in ApoE−/− mice at 16 weeks after administration; (c) Representative images and morphometric analysis for the macrophages specific marker MOMA2 (red) and autophagy specific marker LC3II (green) staining from the aortic root; (d) TUNEL assay and DAPI staining. Green spots represent apoptotic bodies and blue spots represent cell nuclei; (e) Statistical data of atherosclerotic lesion area in the aortic root; (f) Statistical data of TUNEL positive cells. Apoptosis rate was calculated based on the results of the TUNEL assay. The pictures are representative of multiple sections of aortas from different groups of mice (at least 5 in each group);*P < 0.05 when compared with Vehicle group; scale bar = 80 um. Values are the mean ± SD of 3–5 separate experiments; *P < 0.05 vs. control group