D12492

Male ApoE^−/− mice (aged 7 weeks) were purchased from Vital River (Beijing, China) and housed in a specific-pathogen-free animal facility. To establish atherosclerosis model in vivo, these mice were fed a high-fat diet containing 60% of total calories from fat [D12492; HFK Bioscience (Beijing, China)] or a standard 4% fat diet (D12450B; HFK Biological Sciences) for 12 weeks. An lnc-KCNC3-3:1 knockdown mouse model was constructed by injecting a lentivirus (Lenti) expressing RNA inference (RNAi) targeting lnc-KCNC3-3:1 (lnc-KCNC3-3:1 Lenti-siRNA1), which was purchased from Genepharma (Shanghai, China). Next, lnc-KCNC3-3:1 Lenti-siRNA1 was injected into the tail vein of mice in atherosclerosis + lnc-KCNC3-3:1 siRNA1 group. Finally, mice were sacrificed for collection of arterial tissues and serum. All animal procedures were approved by the Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University. The National Institute of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals was strictly followed (10 ).

C57BL/6J mice were purchased from Beijing Huafukang Bioscience (Beijing, China). Male C57BLKS/J-lepr^db/lepr^db diabetic (db/db) mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Maine, USA). Mice were maintained in a pathogen-free animal facility with a normal chow diet (5% fat; Beijing Huafukang Bioscience, Beijing, China) and 12-hour light-dark cycles. For HFD experiments, 5-week-old C57BL/6J mice (n = 20) were fed a high-fat diet (60% fat, 20% carbohydrate, 20% protein; D12492, Beijing Huafukang Bioscience, Beijing, China) for the indicated time. And 5-week-old C57BL/6J mice (n = 12) were fed a normal chow diet. All studies were performed in accordance with the guidelines of The Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council) and approved by The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of The South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.

All animal experiments complied with the guidelines of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology animal management program. 7-week-old Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with similar body weights (180–200 g), purchased from the Animal Breeding Center of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The rats were housed in a specific pathogen-free (SPF) animal room (24°C, 12-hour-light/dark cycle with lights on at 7:00 am) and were induced to become obese for 10 weeks with a high-fat diet (HFD, D12492, 60% high fat, BEIJING HFK BIOSCIENCE). The body weights of the rats ranged from 725 to 747 g before surgery. The rats were sacrificed with cervical dislocation before collecting samples.