Visualization of Synthetic Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in Atherosclerotic Carotid Rat Arteries by F-18 FDG PET

Figures

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  Figure 1. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of harvested carotid artery (CA). (A) Normal CA. (B) Atherosclerotic CA. (C) Comparison of maximal wall thickness in atherosclerotic and normal CA. *p < 0.05 vs. normal control (n = 4 for each group). Scale bar, 100 µm. Magnification, ×100.

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  Figure 2. Characterization of harvested normal artery (n = 4). Images of arteries immunostained with antibodies against smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC) or α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 100 µm. Magnification, ×100.

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  Figure 3. Characterization of harvested atherosclerotic right carotid arteries (n = 4). Images of arteries immunostained with antibodies against α-SMA, SM-MHC, CD68, or myeloperoxidase (MPO). Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 100 µm. Magnification, ×100.

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  Figure 4. Surrogate markers of synthetic vascular smooth muscle cells in atherosclerotic right carotid arteries (n = 4). Images of arteries immunostained with antibodies against collagen type III, cyclophilin A or matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9). Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 100 µm. Magnification, ×100.

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  Figure 5. F-18 FDG PET images. (A) Maximum intensity projection (MIP) views of (a) an atherosclerotic rat and (b) a normal rat. (B) Three-plane views of (a) an atherosclerotic rat and (b) a normal rat. The arrow indicates FDG uptake of the right carotid artery and the arrow head indicates FDG uptake of the spinal bone marrow. R; right, L; left, V; ventral, D; dorsal. (C) Comparison of maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax) in atherosclerotic and normal carotid arteries (CAs). *p < 0.05 vs. normal control (n = 4 for each group).

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  Figure 6. (A) Autoradiography scans of harvested carotid arteries (CAs). In merged images (represented as CA/Autoradiography), radioactivity signals were inversely adapted for better visualization. Scale bars, 1 mm. (B) Increased GLUT1 expression in atherosclerotic right carotid artery. Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure 1. (C) Increased GLUT1 expression in synthetic VSMCs in neointima region of atherosclerotic right carotid artery. Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 100 µm. Magnification, ×100.