Smooth Muscle-Specific BCL6+/− Knockout Abrogates Sex Bias in Chronic Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Mice

Figure 2

Reduced BCL6 expression in the tunica media/SMCs in sections of the main PA arteries in mice with SMC-specific heterozygous or homozygous deletion of the BCL6 locus. Sections of the main PA arteries from Wt and respective mutant mice were evaluated for BCL6 expression by quantitative immunofluorescence. (a) Autofluorescence (in green) of the elastic laminae was used to identify the tunica media. (c) SMCs in the tunica media were immunostained for smooth muscle α actin (SMA). Arrows in the Wt sections draw attention to areas of normal BCL6 immunofluorescence and those in the mutant sections to areas with reduced BCL6 expression. (b, d) Summary of BCL6 immunofluorescence intensity in multiple areas of sections such as in (a) and (c) in the Wt and respective mutant mice. by Student’s t-test.

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