Figure 4. Characteristics of the extracellular matrix (ECM).
(A) ECM-based myocardial passive stiffness of muscle strips from LV free wall. The relation of ECM-based stiffness vs. SL of sham (circle), cRbm20ΔRRM-DMSO (upward triangle) and cRbm20ΔRRM-raloxifene (inverted triangle) are shown. ECM-based stiffness was increased in both TAC/DOCA groups. (For analysis, see Supplemental Methods). **p≤0.01; ***p≤0.001 vs. Sham. (n=6, 6, 6 muscle strips from 4, 5, 6 mice for ECM-based passive stiffness.) (B–E) Quantification of collagen in LV myocardium. (B) Representative PSR staining for collagen of LV myocardium. Quantitative analysis showed a similarly increase in collagen volume fraction (C), collagen fiber length (D), and collagen fiber width (E) in both TAC/DOCA groups. **p≤0.01; ****p≤0.0001. (n=9, 14, 21 mice for collagen quantification.)