Fig. 2.

Inhibition of myocardial fibrosis by TLR4 siRNA. Diabetic mice were made and treated with TLR4 siRNA as described in this figure. Four experimental groups included the untreated mice (sham), diabetic mice (STZ), and the mice treated with scrambled siRNA and TLR4 siRNA. Eight weeks after treatment, hearts were excised, fixed, and sectioned. a The sections were stained with H&E and a saturated solution of picric acid containing 1% Sirius red for collagen deposition. The sections were then visualized by light microscopy, photographed (×100). The scale bars are 100 μm. b The collagen content of the sections was measured by using the computer-assisted morphometry. c TGFβ1 expression in myocardia. mRNA from hearts from four experimental groups of mice were prepared for detecting TGFβ1 using Q-RT-PCR as described in “Methods”. d, e Collagen I and collagen III expression in myocardia. mRNA from hearts from four experimental groups of mice were prepared for detecting collagen 1 using Q-RT-PCR. Data shown are representative of three experiments. ^#Statistical significance when compared with scrambled siRNA-treated mice, or * with untreated mice (sham) with STZ-induced diabetic mice were denoted as p < 0.05