Figure 5.

Genetic deletion of Rho kinase ROCK1 partially improved Rnd3^+/− mouse cardiac functions and attenuated apoptotic cardiomyopathy induced by TAC. (a) The genotyping profile showed the establishment of the double-knockout (DK) mouse line, Rnd3^{+/−ROCK1−/−}. (b) Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac functions. (c) A comparison of TUNEL staining between the Rnd3^+/− hearts and DK mouse hearts. The arrows indicate TUNEL-positive cells (green) overlapped with nucleus counter-staining. Cardiomyocytes were visualized by red fluorescent staining for F-actin. Scale bar represents 10 μm. (d) The quantification of the TUNEL results between the two groups of mouse hearts. (e) Active and full-length of caspase-3 expression levels between the two groups of mouse hearts assessed by immunoblot. (f) Densitometry analysis of active caspase-3 normalized by GAPDH. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Student–Newman–Keuls method. Data are means±S.D. The number in each column represents the number of mice in the group. KO, knockout