Figure 2

Overexpression of CCR5 in endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) promoted the recruitment of EPCs into atherosclerotic plaques. (A) Representative images of EPC incorporation on atherosclerotic plaques 6 weeks after phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), EPC (Lenti-EGFP), and CCR5 overexpression of EPC treatment (Lenti-CCR5). DAPI (blue), EGFP (green), CD31 (red). Arrowheads indicate EPCs (EGFP⁺). (B) Quantitative analysis of migrated EPCs on atherosclerotic plaques in Lenti-EGFP and Lenti-CCR5 groups (*P <0.05, **P <0.01). The average number of EGFP⁺ EPCs on atherosclerotic plaques was counted from three randomly chosen high-power fields (magnification, 200×). Bars represent mean ± standard deviation. CCR5, chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 5; DAPI, 4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; EGFP, enhanced green fluorescent protein.