Figure 1. Expression of RAGE in the aortas of apoE–/– mice.
(A) Western blotting. At the indicated ages, aortas were retrieved from apoE–/– mice and subjected to Western blotting with anti-RAGE IgG followed by anti–β-actin IgG. RAGE/β-actin antigen relative densitometry units were calculated. *P = 0.006, #P = 0.0001, ^P < 0.0001 versus 6 weeks. (B–H) Immunohistochemistry. Aorta tissue was subjected to immunohistochemistry to detect RAGE antigen (B and F). Sites of prominent RAGE expression were confirmed to be endothelial cells, based on colocalization of RAGE expression with CD31 (C) in the merged image (D). RAGE was also expressed in smooth muscle cells, based on colocalization with smooth muscle actin (G) in the merged image (H). Staining with nonimmune IgG revealed no specific immunoreactivity (E). Original magnification, ×400.