Fig. 4

Pathological analysis of aortic atherosclerosis in KO rabbits. (a) Gross lesions of aortic atherosclerosis of KO rabbits (5♀, 7♂) stained with Sudan IV. The normal aorta is cut open and stained by Sudan IV to show as a reference (left) to the other two (5♀ and 7♂, respectively). Aortas stained by Sudan IV show different degrees of aortic lesions (red areas stained with Sudan IV). (b) Micrographs of aortic atherosclerosis. Serial sections of paraffin specimens are stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) or immunohistochemically stained with Abs against either RAM-11 (macrophages) or smooth muscle β-action (smooth muscle cells, SMC). The lesions are composed of macrophage-derived foam cells intermingled with smooth muscle cells