Figure 3.

Increased permeability of Cx43 hemichannels in dystrophic hearts. Cardiomyocyte´s permeability was evaluated in Langendorff-perfused hearts using uptake of ethidium (BrEt) as a tracer. (A) Representative images of cardiac sections showing ethidium fluorescence (red, top set of panels) and nuclei stained by DAPI (blue, bottom set of panels). The first two columns show control (BL10) and mdx mice treated with the vehicle or apocynin for one month before the perfusion experiment; the third column shows hearts of both strains treated acutely with carbenoxolone (CBX, 10 µmol/L) during perfusion, prior to the ethidium challenge. (B) Ethidium uptake quantification, expressed as the ratio of ethidium-positive nuclei to total nuclei. The n is indicated in each bar. *** p < 0.001 vs. all the other groups, ANOVA with Newman–Keuls as post-hoc test.