Figure 5

Immunostaining of vimentin in the ascending aortas in WT and mLMNA⁺ mice at 12 months. The pattern of vimentin expression in the ascending aortas in wild type (WT) mice (A and B) was compared with mLMNA⁺ mice (C and D) by immunostaining and confocal microscopy. In WT mice (A) the media of the posterior wall is cellular and vimentin positive (arrows), whereas in mLMNA⁺ mice (C) the media of the posterior wall is mostly acellular, but the few surviving SMCs show vimentin staining (arrows). All endothelial cells (arrowheads) are vimentin positive (A and C). Cells of the intima and media in the descending aortas in 12-month-old WT (A) and mLMNA⁺ (B) mice were analyzed for vimentin expression. The contiguous monolayer of vimentin positive endothelial cells in each vessel is indicated (arrowheads) as is the SMC layers of the media (arrows). The lumen of each vessel is indicated (L). Blue = DAPI, green = vimentin. Scale bar: 25 μm.