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. 2017 Aug 8;27(10):1195–1215. doi: 10.1038/cr.2017.87

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Copyright © 2017 The Author(s)

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Administration of hCT1 in vivo induces beneficial cardiac growth, while withdrawal of hCT1 causes reversion to baseline cardiac dimensions. (A-J) Osmotic minipumps were implanted subcutaneously in rats containing PBS control (Ctrl), hCT1 (6 μg/kg/h), and isoproterenol (ISO, 1 mg/kg/d) or phenylephrine (PE, 10 mg/kg/d) to induce hypertrophy over 2 weeks. After 2 and 6 weeks post treatment, M-mode echocardiography analysis was used to assess myocardial structure/function. (A) Echocardiography images. Arrows and arrowheads (upper panels) point to the right ventricle free wall (RVFW) and septum. Dotted lines (lower panels) span the right and left ventricle internal diameter (RVID and LVID, respectively) of the inner chambers. (B-E) Both hCT1 and ISO (or PE) induced a significant increase in cardiac hypertrophy versus control (n = 6; ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01 and ^****P < 0.0001). However, only rats treated with ISO or PE exhibited an increase in the RVID:LVID ratio (n = 6; ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.01). (F-J) 6 weeks post withdrawal, hCT1-treated rats displayed reversion of heart growth, whereas PE-treated rats maintained a significant increase in HW:BW (heart weight to body weight ratio), RVFW wall thickness, cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area, and RVID:LVID ratio versus control (n = 6; ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01 and ^****P < 0.0001). (F), Whole hearts (left panel; scale bar, 10 mm), Hematoxylin and Eosin-stained sections (middle and right panels; scale bars, 10 mm and 50 μm, respectively). (K-N) Similar procedure as in (A) above, however, adult murine cardiomyocytes were analyzed. After 2 weeks of treatment, hCT1 significantly increased the length of cardiomyocytes versus PBS control or PE (K; n = 6, ^***P < 0.001 and ^****P < 0.0001) while PE significantly increased the width versus PBS control and hCT1 (L; n = 6, ^****P < 0.0001). The length to width ratio of PE-treated cardiomyocytes was significantly decreased versus PBS control and hCT1 (M; n = 6, ^****P < 0.0001), whereas no significant difference (ns) was observed between PBS control and hCT1. Representative images (N) of murine cardiomyocytes were stained with Alexa Fluor-488 Phalloidin (F-actin, green) and DAPI (nuclei, blue). Scale bar, 50 μm.