Macrophages would engulf circulating oxidized (ox)- low-density lipoprotein and form lipid droplet-laden foam cells. Macrophage foam cells are considered an important therapeutic target of atherosclerosis. The aim of the study was to investigate a hypoxic foam cell model for anti-atherosclerotic drug screening using the chemical hypoxia-mimicking agent cobalt chloride (CoCl₂). The oil red O stating results showed that treatment with CoCl₂ could induce lipid accumulation and lead to cell transformation to spindle-shaped and lipid-rich foam cells in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Incubation with 150 μM CoCl₂ for 24 h significantly increased the area of intracellular lipid droplets in macrophages, compared with the control group. Our findings indicate that CoCl₂-triggered macrophage foam cells should be a potential in vitro hypoxia model for atherosclerosis drug discovery.

中文翻译：

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氯化钴诱导巨噬细胞泡沫细胞形成：用于抗动脉粥样硬化药物筛选的化学缺氧模型

巨噬细胞会吞噬循环中的氧化（ox）-低密度脂蛋白并形成充满脂滴的泡沫细胞。巨噬细胞泡沫细胞被认为是动脉粥样硬化的重要治疗靶点。该研究的目的是使用化学缺氧模拟剂氯化钴 (CoCl ₂ )研究用于抗动脉粥样硬化药物筛选的缺氧泡沫细胞模型。油红O说明结果表明，用CoCl ₂处理可诱导脂质积累并导致细胞转化为RAW 264.7巨噬细胞中的纺锤形和富含脂质的泡沫细胞。与对照组相比，用 150 μM C​​oCl ₂孵育24 小时显着增加了巨噬细胞中细胞内脂滴的面积。我们的研究结果表明 CoCl_2-触发巨噬细胞泡沫细胞应该是动脉粥样硬化药物发现的潜在体外缺氧模型。