Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Oil Red O and Hematoxylin and Eosin Staining for Quantification of Atherosclerosis Burden in Mouse Aorta and Aortic Root
Methods for staining tissues with Oil Red O and hematoxylin-eosin are classical histological techniques that are widely used to quantify atherosclerotic burden in mouse tissues because of their ease of use, reliability, and the large amount of information they provide. These stains can provide quantitative data about the impact of a genetic or environmental factor on atherosclerotic burden and on the initiation, progression, or regression of the disease, and can also be used to evaluate the efficacy of drugs designed to prevent or treat atherosclerosis. This chapter provides protocols for quantifying atherosclerotic burden...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Noninvasive Molecular Imaging of Mouse Atherosclerosis
Molecular imaging offers great potential for noninvasive visualization and quantitation of the cellular and molecular components involved in atherosclerotic plaque stability. In this chapter, we review emerging molecular imaging modalities and approaches for quantitative, noninvasive detection of early biological processes in atherogenesis, including vascular endothelial permeability, endothelial adhesion molecule up-regulation, and macrophage accumulation, with special emphasis on mouse models. We also highlight a number of targeted imaging nanomaterials for assessment of advanced atherosclerotic plaques, including extrac...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Intravital Microscopy for Atherosclerosis Research
Recruitment of leukocytes into arteries is a hallmark event throughout all stages of atherosclerosis and hence stands out as a primary therapeutic target. To understand the molecular mechanisms of arterial leukocyte subset infiltration, real-time visualization of recruitment processes of leukocyte subsets at high resolution is a prerequisite. In this review we provide a balanced overview of optical imaging modalities in the more commonly used experimental models for atherosclerosis (e.g., mouse models) allowing for in vivo display of recruitment processes in large arteries and further detail strategies to overcome hurdles ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Cytokines and Immune Responses in Murine Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the vessel wall characterized by activation of the innate immune system, with macrophages as the main players, as well as the adaptive immune system, characterized by a Th1-dominant immune response. Cytokines play a major role in the initiation and regulation of inflammation. In recent years, many studies have investigated the role of these molecules in experimental models of atherosclerosis. While some cytokines such as TNF or IFNγ clearly had atherogenic effects, others such as IL-10 were found to be atheroprotective. However, studies investigating the different cytokin...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Atherosclerotic Mouse Aorta
Plaque development has been extensively studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in animal models of rapidly progressing atherosclerosis, such as apolipoprotein E-knockout (apoE-KO) mice. Preclinical MRI plays a significant role in the study of experimental atherosclerosis. Currently, MRI is capable of detecting luminal narrowing, plaque size, and morphology with high accuracy and reproducibility, providing reliable measurements of plaque burden. Therefore, MRI offers a noninvasive approach to serially monitor the progression of the disease. Compared with other imaging modalities, MRI appears to have the greatest pot...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
In Vivo 18F-FDG-PET Imaging in Mouse Atherosclerosis
Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important technique in cardiovascular research. Vascular inflammation detected by fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET has been shown to predict cardiovascular (CV) events independent of traditional risk factors and is also highly associated with overall burden of atherosclerosis. The use of PET imaging in mouse models of atherosclerosis is challenged by the reduced size of the scanned organs. However, the last generation of dedicated PET scanners has an improved spatial resolution (<1 mm) and increased sensitivity allowing those studies to be performed. Here, we describe a procedure to ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Fluorescent Molecular Tomography for In Vivo Imaging of Mouse Atherosclerosis
Optical imaging technologies such as fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) are gaining great relevance in cardiovascular research. The main reason is the increased number of available fluorescent agents, especially those termed “activatable probes,” which remain quenched under baseline conditions and are fluorescent when a specific enzymatic activity is present. A major characteristic of FMT is the possibility of obtaining quantitative data of fluorescence signal distribution in a noninvasive fashion and using nonionizing radiation, making FMT an invaluable tool for longitudinal studies with biomedical applic...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Intravital Microscopy in the Cremaster Muscle Microcirculation for Endothelial Dysfunction Studies
The intravital microscopy in the mouse cremaster muscle microcirculation is a method widely used to visualize in vivo blood cells interacting with the endothelium and within the vessels. Therefore, it is a suitable technique to study leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions along every stage of the canonical leukocyte recruitment cascade: rolling, adhesion, intravascular crawling, and migration both in postcapillary venules and arterioles of the mouse cremasteric microcirculation. This technique also enables to assess vessel functionality, since hemodynamic parameters such as shear stress, flow rate, and vasodilatation/vaso...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Mechanical Stabilization of Mouse Carotid Artery for In Vivo Intravital Microscopy Imaging of Atherogenesis
We present here a procedure that allows real-time high-resolution multichannel imaging of early atherosclerotic lesions of live mice, by dramatically reducing the respiratory and pulsatile movements of the athero-susceptible carotid artery, without significantly altering blood flow dynamics. This surgical preparation can be combined with the use of various fluorescent probes and reporter mice to simultaneously visualize the dynamics of inflammatory leukocytes, platelets, or even subcellular structures. Stabilization of the tissue renders it suitable for two-photon laser scanning microscopic imaging and allows tracking the ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Detection of Intraplaque Hemorrhage in Mouse Atherosclerotic Lesions
Intraplaque hemorrhage is defined as the presence of fresh or lysed erythrocytes, iron deposits in macrophages, and/or a fibrin clot in an atherosclerotic plaque. These features can be detected by hematoxylin and eosin, Martius scarlet Blue, and Perl’s iron histological stainings. (Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine)
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Tandem Stenosis to Induce Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability in the Mouse
Despite the number of animal models of atherosclerosis, a major limitation in research on mechanisms of plaque rupture is the lack of appropriate atherosclerotic mouse models where lesions develop and progress to a vulnerable and thus rupture-prone phenotype that is typically observed in humans. Most animal models of atherosclerosis typically represent a few but not the full combination of the characteristics seen in human unstable/ruptured plaques. Such characteristics most importantly include a thin and ruptured fibrous cap, plaque inflammation, neovascularization within the plaque (vasa vasorum), plaque hemorrhage, and ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Bone Marrow Transplantation in Mice to Study the Role of Hematopoietic Cells in Atherosclerosis
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or bone marrow transplantation is a common approach to reconstitute the immune system of mice that have been subjected to marrow-ablative doses of radiation. This method can be used in the field of atherosclerosis to assess the contribution of hematopoietic cells of a desired genotype to disease pathogenesis. The engraftment of atherosclerosis-prone mice with donor cells that contain genetic alterations in cells of the innate or adaptive immune system has been invaluable to define the role of multiple gene products in atherosclerosis. Here, we describe the different steps involved in...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Analysis of Gene and Protein Expression in Atherosclerotic Mouse Aorta by Western Blot and Quantitative Real-Time PCR
Atherosclerosis involves changes in gene and protein expression patterns in affected arteries. Quantification of these alterations is essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying this pathology. Western blot and real-time PCR—used to quantify protein and messenger RNA levels, respectively—are invaluable molecular biology tools, particularly when material is limited. The availability of many genetically modified mouse models of atherosclerosis makes the mouse aorta an ideal tissue in which to carry out these expression pattern analyses. In this chapter, protocols are presented for mRNA and pro...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Generation of Aorta Transcript Atlases of Wild-Type and Apolipoprotein E-null Mice by Laser Capture Microdissection-Based mRNA Expression Microarrays
Atherosclerosis is a transmural chronic inflammatory disease of medium and large arteries. Though it is well recognized that immune responses contribute to atherosclerosis, it remains unclear whether these responses are carried out in secondary lymphoid organs such as the spleen and lymph nodes and/or within the arterial wall. Arteries are composed of three major layers, i.e., the laminae intima, media, and adventitia. However, each of these layers may play different roles in arterial wall biology and atherogenesis. We identified well-structured artery tertiary lymphoid organs (ATLOs) in the abdominal aorta adventitia but ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
Use of Mouse Models in Atherosclerosis Research
Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in most developed nations and the social and economic burden of this disease is quite high. Atherosclerosis is a major underlying basis for most cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction and stroke. Genetically modified mouse models, particularly mice deficient in apoprotein E or the LDL receptor, have been widely used in preclinical atherosclerosis studies to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying this pathology. This chapter reviews several mouse models of atherosclerosis progression and regression as well as the role of immune cells in disease progres...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Molecular Medicine - July 31, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: news
