Fig. 6

Autophagy activation and efferocytosis enhancement in advanced atheroma over time after photoactivation. a CLSM images of the double IF of autophagy marker LC3 (green) and p62 (red) at 1 day and 1 week after laser irradiation. Blue: nucleus stained with DAPI. Scale bar = 100 μm. b Quantification of the LC3- and p62-positive areas per plaque. ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001. c IHC analysis of MerTK expression in the plaques of the DS-Ce6-photoactivated mice and controls. Scale bar = 100 μm. d Quantification of MerTK expression per plaque area. ^*P < 0.05. e Representative fluorescence micrographs of the carotid plaques double-stained with cleaved caspase-3 (red) and Mac3 (green). Scale bar = 100 μm. f Cleaved caspase-3 expression per plaque area and efferocytosis quantified as macrophage-associated (yellow arrows) versus macrophage-free apoptotic cells (white arrows) in the plaques after DS-Ce6 photoactivation. ^*P < 0.05. Tx treatment, Mφ macrophage, AC apoptotic cells