Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 4 pp 1865—1878

miR-223-3p inhibits the progression of atherosclerosis via down-regulating the activation of MEK1/ERK1/2 in macrophages

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Figure 1. Enhanced miR-223-3p levels in carotid arteries and serum from patients with AS. (A) The levels of miR-223-3p were higher in AS arteries as compared with normal arteries determined by qPCR. (*P<0.05). (B) The levels of miR-223-3p were higher in the serum of AS patients compared with normal controls determined by qPCR. (*P<0.05). (C) The expression level of miR-223-3p has been associated with a higher overall survival rate by ROC curve. (D) The three-dimensional vascular remodeling, CT, ultrasonic sound pictures from patient with stable or vulnerable lesions were shown. (E) Histological analysis on the aortic sections evaluates the morphological differences by Movat staining. Representative staining results for vulnerable plaque and stable plaque. Decreased miR-223-3p in the vulnerable plaque as compared with stable plaque (*P<0.05). (F) Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization assay revealed miR-223-3p (green) co-localization with CD68+ (red) macrophages in vulnerable atherosclerotic lesions of AS patients. DAPI (blue) for nuclei staining.