Low-intensity exercise training improves systolic function of heart during metastatic melanoma-induced cachexia in mice

Figures

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  Fig. 1. Exercise training mitigates skeletal muscle loss during cancer cachexia. (A) Outline of the experimental procedure and training protocol. (B) Representative images illustrating the lung and metastatic tumors. (C) Representative images of H&E staining of lung tissue. (D) Food intake in mice across different groups. (E) Body weights of mice. (F) Body weight change in specified groups 3 weeks post-tumor injection. Weights of muscle (G), epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) (H), and kidney (I). Data are presented as mean ± SD. n = 5.

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  Fig. 2. Exercise training enhances systolic function of the heart during cancer cachexia. (A) Representative images of the heart. (B) Ratio of heart weight to tibia length in mice. (C) Representative H&E staining images of the heart. (D) Concentration of high-sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in serum as measured by ELISA. (E) Representative echocardiographic M-mode images of the indicated mice in the parasternal short-axis view. (F) Ejection fraction (EF%) of the indicated mice. (G) Fractional shortening of the indicated mice. Data are presented as mean ± SD. n = 5.

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  Fig. 3. Exercise training potentially reverses tumor-induced alterations in the heart's transcriptional profile. RNA-seq was conducted using heart samples, with each sample comprising tissue from two mice (n = 3). Gene clustering analysis was conducted based on the mean expression of each gene using the TCseq package (A, C, E, G, I, and K) Trends of gene expression among each group. (B, D, F, H, J, and L) Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis of indicated gene cluster. (M and N) The principal component analysis (PCA) plots of the indicated groups are displayed. The dot represents the centroid of the PCA scores of each group, and the curve indicates the standard deviation range of the PCA scores.

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  Fig. 4. Exercise training significantly elevated the genes associated with heart contraction during cardiac cachexia. (A) Venn diagram displaying the overlapping genes. (B) Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis of the overlapping genes identified from A. (C) Heatmap of heart contraction-associated genes. (D) The protein levels of MYH7B and β-actin in the hearts were analyzed by Western blot. (E) Venn diagram showing the overlapping genes. (F) Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis of the overlapping genes identified from E.