Figure 2.

Gene and protein analyses after electromechanical conditioning of ATDPCs. 3 × 10⁴ cells were seeded on each polydimethylsiloxane construct 1 day before the beginning of the stimulation, and the cells attached were used for gene and protein analyses. (A): Real‐time polymerase chain reaction of main cardiac genes in cardiac and subcutaneous ATDPCs. Relative expression of cardiomyogenic markers in EMC versus nonconditioned controls is shown for cardiac and subcutaneous ATDPCs. Values were normalized to glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase expression and are shown as mean ± SEM for six independent experiments. #, p < .1 (trend); ∗, p < .05 (significance) versus the subcutaneous ATDPC group. (B–M): Protein expression in cardiac and subcutaneous ATDPCs on a vertical patterned surface, perpendicular to the electric field (E) and stretching (force; F), as shown on the superior drawing. Phalloidin staining (actin F; red) and Cx43 expression (green), SERCA2 (red), MEF2 (green), sarcomeric α‐actinin (red), and GATA‐4 (green) expression in control (B, D, F, H, J, L) and EMC (C, E, G, I, K, M) cardiac (left) and subcutaneous (right) ATDPCs. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue; B–E, L, M). Scale bars = 50 µm. Abbreviations: β‐MyHC, β‐myosin heavy chain 7; ATDPCs, adipose tissue‐derived progenitor cells; cTnI, cardiac Troponin I; Cx43, connexin43; DAPI, 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole; EMC, electromechanically conditioned; GATA‐4, GATA‐binding protein 4; MEF2A, myocyte‐specific enhancer factor 2A; SERCA2, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺‐ATPase; Tbx5, T‐box transcription factor.