COX gene expression in tissue from atherosclerotic apoE^−/− mice.

COX-2 (ptgs2) (a) and COX-1 (ptgs1) (b) gene expression levels measured by quantitative RT-PCR in a panel of tissues from atherosclerotic apoE^−/− mice indicated that COX-1 was expressed at a similar level and was the dominant isoform across all studied tissues. COX-2 expression showed more variation across tissues, with the highest levels present in the thymus, which also had the greatest COX-2:COX-1 expression ratio of any tissue examined (c). n = 4-6.