Figure 5. Alterations of CRT-STAT3 signaling pathway in this rat model of DCM.

A: Real-time PCR revealed that CRT, STAT3 and MnSOD mRNA expression in the hearts from DCM have changed significantly. Results are expressed as fold increase or decrease over untreated group and GAPDH was served as an internal control (n = 6, 9 and 16 respectively). B: The protein expression of CRT, phosphorylated and total STAT3, and MnSOD in homogenates of rat left ventricular myocardium was determined by western blot. β-actin was used as a loading control. A representative blot is shown. C: Quantification analysis of the protein levels as shown in part B using the quantity one software. D: The protein levels of phosphorylated and total STAT3 in cardiac mitochondria were determined by western blot. COXIV was used as a loading control for the mitochondrial protein. A representative blot is shown in the left panel, and quantitative analysis results are shown in the right panel. The protein expression is represented as the mean ± SD from 6 independent rats per group, and each western blot was performed in triplicate. *P<0.05 versus the control group.