Figure 7.

Molecular Regulation of Fibrosis in Ex Vivo Cultured Hearts

Representative pictures of the right ventricle and the right atrium of hearts cultured for 7 days under standard conditions (−), in the presence of SB431542 (SB, SB1, SB2) or transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) for (A) phospho-SMAD2/3 (pSMAD2/3) and phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (pp38MAPK), (B) α-SMA and vimentin, (C) PECAM-1 and cTnI, (D) collagen I and collagen III, and (E) Alcian blue, periostin, versican B, and fibronectin. (F) Graphs depicting the percentage of hearts with α-SMA expression in the subepicardium of the ventricle and atrium after culture for 7 days under standard conditions (−), in the presence of SB431542 (SB) or TGF-β. (G and H) Graphs depicting the relative α-SMA-positive area (G) and the relative vimentin-positive area (H) in the ventricular or atrial myocardium of hearts cultured for 7 days under standard conditions (−), in the presence of SB431542 (SB) or TGF-β. DAPI was used as counterstain in all fluorescent pictures. Data are presented as means ± SEM. To evaluate significant differences, 1-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test was performed for graphs (G and H). Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test was performed for graph (G [atrium]). ∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01, ∗∗∗P < 0.001. Scale bar: 20 μm. Abbreviations as in Figure 1.