Figure 7. Endogenous HH signaling is critical for recovery following cardiac ischemia.

(A) Kaplan-Meier survival curve showing the initial lethality following LAD ligation in both control and SHH Ab groups. However, between days 4 and 7 after MI, a fraction of the mice receiving SHH Ab died. The red arrow denotes the time at which mice underwent LAD ligation, and the red bar indicates the days mice received Ab injections. (B and C) Long-axis end-systolic images of control (B) and SHH Ab–treated (C) hearts, demonstrating diminished ventricular function in SHH Ab–treated mice. Green arrows highlight the LV cavity. (D and E) Pairwise comparison of ejection fraction 1 day after MI (prior to Ab injections) and 14 days after MI (after Ab injections) in control (D) and SHH Ab–treated (E) mice. (F) Quantitation of the relative change in ejection fraction, demonstrating that SHH Ab–treated mice undergo a more severe decline in cardiac function compared with control mice (*P < 0.01). (G–J) Trichrome staining (G and H) and short-axis echocardiographic images (I and J) of control (G and I) and SHH Ab–treated (H and J) mice showing increased infarct size in SHH Ab–treated animals. Green arrows denote the infarct border zones. Original magnification, ×25 (G and H). (K and L) Pairwise comparison of infarct area 1 day after MI (prior to Ab injections) and 14 days after MI (after Ab injections) in control (K) and SHH Ab–treated (L) mice. (M) Quantitation of the relative change in infarct area (IA), demonstrating that SHH Ab–treated mice undergo an exaggerated increase in infarct area compared with control mice (*P < 0.01).