Research Paper Advance Articles

Figure 2. General evaluation of aortic wall remodeling between old (n = 5–10, red) and young (n = 5–10, blue) mice. (A) Decision tree allowing cellular and extracellular evaluation. (B) Histological staining (Hematoxylin-Eosin, HE) and quantification of the thickness of the tunica media and adventitia by ImageJ Software. (C) Immunohistology against αSMA (smooth muscle actin, specific marker for smooth muscle cells) and CD31 (specific marker for endothelial cells). DAPI (blue) identifies cell nuclei. (D) Quantification of CD31 and αSMA fluorescence (see Figure 2C) and related to DAPI fluorescence using ImageJ. (E, F) Examples of the spectra of the elastic fibers (E) and the tunica intima (F) obtained by Raman spectroscopy. (G) Reconstruction of the vascular wall from the spectra obtained previously (panels E, F). Statistical test: Mann-Whitney. Mean+/− SEM. Significant differences (^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.001, ^***p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney).