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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2016 Nov 4;1863(1):298–309. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2016.11.006

Figure 5.

Figure 5

α-SMA overexpression in cardiac fibroblasts attenuates baseline pad contraction and does not affect serum-stimulated contraction. A. Isolated high-tension fibroblasts were stained for α-SMA, phalloidin (to identify F-actin filaments) and DAPI. B. α-SMA overexpression markedly increased α-SMA expression and incorporation in cytoskeletal stress fibers. C. α-SMA overexpression (OE) attenuated baseline pad contraction, without affecting serum (S)-induced contraction (**p<0.01 vs. control-plasmid (Cp), n=8–10/group; ^^p<0.01 vs. unstimulated cells). D. In collagen pads, cardiac fibroblasts exhibit low levels of α-SMA immunoreactivity. E. α-SMA-overexpressing cells in collagen pads show high expression of α-SMA with cytoplasmic and sub-membrane localization (arrows) (scalebar=10µm).