Fig. 8.
PM2.5 exposure increases cardiac matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 expression and activation. A–D: total mRNA was isolated from cardiac tissue, and mRNA expression levels of MMP-1 (A), MMP-2 (B), MMP-3 (C), and MMP-9 (D) were measured by real-time PCR and expressed as fold increases over GAPDH. E–G: activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in cardiac tissue analyzed by zymography. A representative picture (E) and the activity summaries of MMP-2 (F) and MMP-9 (G) are shown. n = 6 animals/group. *P < 0.05 vs. the same exposure in animals infused with vehicle; #P < 0.05 vs. FA exposure in animals infused with the same drug; $P < 0.05 vs. the same exposure in animals infused with ANG II.