Expression data from the aortas of ApoE knockout and ApoE/IL-17 double knockout mice. Mus musculus

Interleukin-17 (IL-17)-secreting T helper 17 cells (Th17) are a recently identified CD4+ T helper subset that has been implicated in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The issue of whether interleukin-17A (IL-17) contributes to hyperlipidemia-induced aortic endothelial cell activation remained unknown. Here, we reported that IL-17 contributes to hyperlipidemia-induced modulation of vascular cell gene expression during early atherosclerosis in vivo. Our results has shed lights onto the role of IL-17 on EC biology and has provided important insights for future development of novel therapeutics for early intervention of cardiovascular diseases and other inflammatory diseases. Overall design: All mice were in a C57B/L6 strain background. Male Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene knockout mice and ApoE/IL-17 double gene deficient mice were fed with high fat diet for 3 weeks starting from 8 weeks to induce early dyslipidemia. At 11-week of age, aortas from these mice were used for microarray analysis. 5 biological replicates in each group.