Figure 1

RCMV infection of aortic allografts enhances intimal hyperplasia and contributes to vessel remodelling. (A) The figure presents fragments of cross sections of RCMV-infected and uninfected allografts (controls) collected at 2 and 8 weeks after transplantation and stained for SM-α-actin (SM-actin) (Columns 1 and 2). Columns 3 and 4 show fragments of cross sections of the RCMV-infected and uninfected isograft controls at 2 and 8 weeks after transplantation to visualize that there was no intimal formation either in the infected or uninfected isografts. Blue, nuclei counterstained with hematoxylin. Brown, cells positive for SM-α-actin. I, intima, M, media, A, adventitia. (B) Bar charts show areas of intima and media presented as cross-sectional area (μm²) (upper panels) and the number of cells per cross section in the intima and media (lower panels) in RCMV-infected and uninfected allografts. At 2 weeks post transplantation the number of cells in the intima and media, and thickness of both layers were similar in infected and uninfected allografts. At 8 weeks, the intima was 3-fold thicker in infected vs.uninfected allografts and contained 2.5-fold more cells. The media of infected allografts had fewer cells at 8 week after transplantation. * p < 0.05 vs.control at 2 and 8 weeks, respectively.