Figure 4.

Effects of AT₄R and FoxO1 on left ventricular function and expressions of fibrosis-, apoptosis- and autophagy-associated proteins in the myocardium of 5 groups of mice. (A) Representative echocardiographic images in 5 groups of mice. (A1) Two-dimensional echocardiograms showing left ventricular long-axis views and scale bar in mm on the right; (A2) M-mode echocardiograms showing left ventricular dimensions, scale bar in mm on the right, and time stamp in seconds at the bottom; (A3) Pulse-wave Doppler echocardiograms depicting mitral inflow velocities, scale bar in mm/s on the right, and time stamp in seconds at the bottom; (A4) Tissue Doppler echocardiograms displaying mitral annular velocities, scale bar in mm/s on the right, and time stamp in seconds at the bottom. n≥8 per group. (B) Representative Western blot images of Col I, Col III, TGF-β1, Bax, Bcl-2 and Cl-caspase3 protein expressions in the myocardium of 5 groups of mice. (C-G) Quantifications of Col I, Col III, TGF-β1, Bax/Bcl-2 and Cl-caspase3 protein expressions in the myocardium of 5 groups of mice. (H) Representative Western blot images of LC3, Beclin1 and p62 expressions in the myocardium of 5 groups of mice. (I-K) Quantification of LC3-II, Beclin1 and p62 expressions in the myocardium of 5 groups of mice. After DM was successfully induced, mice were divided into the following 5 groups: DM group that received an infusion of vehicle alone, Ang IV group that received an infusion of high-dose Ang IV, Ang IV+divalinal group that received an infusion of high-dose Ang IV plus AT₄R antagonist divalinal, AS group that received an infusion of FoxO1 inhibitor AS1842856, and Ang IV+AS group that received an infusion of Ang IV plus AS1842856. n=5 per group. Ang IV: angiotensin IV; AS: AS1842856; Cl-caspase3: cleaved caspase 3; Col I: collagen I; Col III: collagen III. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.