(A) Interstitial collagen deposition, indicative of cardiac fibrosis, as assessed by Masson trichrome staining. (B) TUNEL staining of heart tissue after 6-week TAC in WT and KO mice. Original magnification, ×40. Data are mean ± SEM of values from 3 hearts per group, with at least 5,000 nuclei examined per heart. **P < 0.01 versus sham; #P < 0.05 versus WT TAC.