Fig. 8.

Administration of heart-derived cardiac mesenchymal cells (Sham-CMCs) reduced hyaluronan (HA) levels in treated hearts. HA metabolism was characterized in CMCs derived from sham (Sham-CMC) and heart failure (HF-CMC) mice by quantitative PCR, agarose gel electrophoresis, and fluorescent microscopy. A: expression of Has2 mRNA in Sham-CMC (n = 3) and HF-CMC (n = 4). B: HA sizing by agarose gel from conditioned media of Sham-CMC (n = 3) and HF-CMC (n = 3). C: quantification of HA sizing by agarose gel from conditioned media of Sham-CMC (n = 3) and HF-CMC (n = 3). D: hyaluronan levels according to hyaluronan-binding protein (HABP; red) staining in vehicle (n = 15)-, Sham-CMC (n = 15)-, and HF-CMC (n = 13)-treated hearts. E: quantification of hyaluronan levels according to HABP (red) staining in vehicle (n = 15)-, Sham-CMC (n = 15)-, and HF-CMC (n = 13)-treated hearts. Data are represented as means ± SD. For 2 groups, an unpaired 2-tailed Student’s t test was used to determine significance between Sham-CMC and HF-CMC. For 3 groups, a 1-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple-comparison test was used to determine significance between Sham-CMC- or HF-CMC-treated hearts compared with vehicle.