Fig. 3. Cardiac fibrosis and formation of aggregates in CMs from CAG-BAG3^P209L mice.

a Analysis of cardiac fibrosis by Sirius red and fast green stainings: red collagen staining indicates massive fibrosis in hearts from CAG-BAG3^P209L mice. b Quantification of the fibrotic area in CAG-BAG3^P209L mice and CTRL. Mean ± SD. N (1 week) = 3 CTRL and 3 CAG-BAG3^P209L mice; n (2 weeks) = 3 CTRL and 6 CAG-BAG3^P209L mice; n (3 weeks) = 10 CTRL and 13 CAG-BAG3^P209L mice; n (5 weeks) = 4 CTRL and 6 CAG-BAG3^P209L mice. One-way ANOVA. c–h Sections of hearts from 5-week-old CAG-BAG3^P209L and CTRL mice were stained for α-actinin (c), desmin (d), FLNC (e), SYNPO2 (f), vimentin (g), and CD45 (h). In BAG3^P209L-eGFP (green) CMs the formation of large aggregates was observed. Scale bars: 50 μm. c–h The experiments were repeated three times from three independent biological replicates with similar results. CTRL, control mice (siblings of CAG-BAG3^P209L mice, which are either WT, PGK-Cre, or CAG-flox-hBAG3^P209L).