Geranylgeranyl Transferase-I Knockout Inhibits Oxidative Injury of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Attenuates Diabetes-Accelerated Atherosclerosis

Figure 3

Conditional knockout of VSMC GGTase-I reduces the abundant hypertrophy and excessive oxidative stress of VSMCs in the atherosclerotic lesions of diabetic mice. (a) Representative immunohistochemical analysis of atherosclerotic lesions via staining with α-SMA. (b) The immunofluorescence expression of nitrotyrosine (FITC staining, red) was examined in the aortic walls. DAPI counterstaining (blue) indicates nuclear localization. The arrows show the areas with obvious FITC staining. (c) Quantification of the α-SMA-positive area in aortic lesions. (d) Relative fluorescence intensity of nitrotyrosine in aortic walls. Data are expressed as , for each group. and versus strain-matched nondiabetic mice. ^# and ^## versus diabetic wild-type mice.

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