Effect of c‐Ski on atrial remodelling in a rapid atrial pacing canine model

Figures

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  Figure 1. A schematic diagram of the study protocol and electrophysiological measurements. A, Observations started 1 week after the surgical procedure, and rapid atrial pacing was administered in the AF‐control, AF‐AdNull and AF‐Adc‐Ski groups for 4 weeks. Then, adenovirus was injected into multiple sites in the right atrium after atrial rapid pacing. B, The inducibility of AF was examined in the Sham, AF‐control, AF‐AdNull and AF‐Adc‐Ski groups. C, The duration of AF in the Sham, AF‐control, AF‐AdNull and AF‐Adc‐Ski groups. *P < .05 vs. the Sham group; & P < .05 vs. the AF‐control and AF‐AdNull groups

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  Figure 2. c‐Ski expression is low in the atrial tissues of rapid atrial pacing model. The dogs were randomly distributed into four groups: the sham‐operated (Sham, n = 3), atrial pacing control (AF‐control, n = 3), atrial pacing and injected with AdNull (AF‐AdNull, n = 6) and atrial pacing and injected with Adc‐Ski (AF‐Adc‐Ski, n = 6) groups. A, Representative images of the myocyte injuries in atrial tissues. B, c‐Ski mRNA expression in atrial tissues was measured in the four groups by qRT‐PCR. C, c‐Ski protein expression in atrial tissues was evaluated by Western blotting. *P < .05 vs. the Sham group; & P < .05 vs. the AF‐control and AF‐AdNull groups

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  Figure 3. Masson's trichrome and picrosirius red staining and ECM expression in the atrial tissues of the four groups. A, Representative images of the atrial tissues of the myocardium following picrosirius red and Masson's trichrome staining in the Sham, AF‐control, AF‐AdNull and AF‐Adc‐Ski groups. B, Immunostaining for α‐SMA and collagen III in the four groups. C and D, Histograms presenting quantitative analyses of α‐SMA and collagen III staining. E and F, The mRNA expression levels of α‐SMA and collagen III in the atrial tissues of the four groups were measured by qRT‐PCR. G, The α‐SMA and collagen III protein levels in the atrial tissues of the four groups were evaluated by Western blotting. *P < .05 vs. the Sham group; & P < .05 vs. the AF‐control and AF‐AdNull groups

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  Figure 4. c‐Ski suppressed TGF‐β–SMAD signalling and the p38 pathway in the rapid atrial pacing canine model. A, TGF‐β1 protein expression levels in the atrial tissues of the Sham, AF‐control, AF‐AdNull and AF‐Adc‐Ski groups were assessed by Western blotting. B and C, The amounts of p‐smad2 and p‐smad3 and total smad2 and smad3 in the four groups were assessed by Western blotting. D, Western blots of p‐p38 and total p38. *P < .05 vs. the Sham group; & P < .05 vs. the AF‐control and AF‐AdNull group