Fig. 3.

Percent (%) myocyte contraction and relaxation: a Adult cardiomyocytes were isolated from C57BL/6J mouse heart (control). Myocytes were treated with MMP-9 (3 ng/ml) or TIMP-4 (12 ng/ml), prior to stimulation (MMP-9 or TIMP-4). To block PAR-1, myocytes were pre-treated with PAR-1 antagonist (10 and 100 µM), prior to adding MMP-9 (10 µM PAR + MMP-9) and (100 µM PAR + MMP-9). Myocytes were stimulated at 1 Hz. b % Myocyte cell shortening, c Rate of systolic contraction, d Rate of diastolic relaxation. Each bar represents average ± SD from 5 to 7 sets of myocytes preparation. * P < 0.05 compared with untreated control