Figure 3.

miR-182-3p regulates the pathological changes in rats in response to MCT-induced PAH. Rats were transduced with either recombinant adenovirus expressing the mimic of miR-182-3p (miR-182-3p, 10¹⁰ pfu/mL) or the control virus (Control-Ad) and then were injected subcutaneously using one dose of MCT. A: The Myadm protein expression levels normalized to the β-actin in the lungs from the rats were detected using Western blotting. B: Representative lung tissue sections with the co-immunofluorescent staining of Myadm (Green) and the SMA (red). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Images are shown at 40× magnification. The bar indicates 100 μm. PASP (C) and RVSP (D) were measured. Black line and black arrow were used to mark the pressure values. HR: heart rates; bpm: beat per minute. Lungs and pulmonary artery samples were embedded in paraffin, sliced into 5-μm sections and stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E). The intimal-medial thickness (E) and the ratio of the wall area to the total vessel area of pulmonary arteries with diameters of <50 μm and 50 to 100 μm (F) were measured. Images are shown at 40× (E) and 20× (F) magnification, respectively. Bar indicates 50 μm and 100 μm. The results are expressed as the means±SEMs. *p<0.05, **p<0.01 vs rats injected with control virus. #p<0.05, ##<0.01 vs rats treated with control virus and MCT. n=6-8 per group.