Fig. 1.

βII spectrin expression is reduced in human heart failure and levels remain reduced following LVAD support. Comparing six non-failing (Non-HF) left ventricular (LV) control samples with six HF samples (3 ischemic and 3 non-ischemic) demonstrated there was a significant decrease of spectrin expression in failing hearts (HF-Pre-LVAD, Fig. 1A and Supplemental Fig. 1). After LVAD support (at the time of transplantation), βII spectrin expression remained significantly decreased compared to control non-failing samples (HF: Post-LVAD, Fig. 1A). When assessing the individual patient response (percent change/%), the expression was quite variable as 2/6 patients had a marked increase in βII spectrin expression after a period of LVAD support (Fig. 1B).