Importance of Cx43 for Right Ventricular Function

Figures

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  Figure 1. Amount of Cx43 in left and right ventricular total and mitochondrial protein extracts. Western blot analysis was performed for Cx43, Vinculin (housekeeping protein used for total protein extracts) and MnSOD (manganese superoxide dismutase—housekeeping protein used for mitochondrial protein extracts) on proteins isolated from right and left mouse (C57Bl6/J) ventricular tissue (A) or on subsarcolemmal (SSM) and interfibrillar (IFM) mitochondrial proteins, isolated from mouse right (RV) and left (LV) ventricular tissue (B). A and B demonstrate uncut, representative parts of the Western Blot analysis. The amounts of Cx43 were normalized to Vinculin (C, n = 10) or MnSOD (D, n = 6). The purity of the mitochondrial preparations was demonstrated by the absence of marker proteins for other cellular compartments (plasma membrane, cytosol and nucleus, Supplementary Materials Figure S1). Data were compared by unpaired Student’s t-test (total proteins) or by two-way ANOVA (mitochondrial proteins). The study was approved by the animal welfare office of the Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany (522_M, approved 29 November 2019).

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  Figure 2. Schematic representation of the expression and localization of Cx43 in pulmonary hypertension (PH). In the vasculature, the amount of Cx43 depends on the exact form of PH. In the right ventricle (RV), PH is associated with a downregulation of Cx43 as well as with enhanced lateralization of the protein. Therapeutic approaches to treat PH can maintain Cx43 expression and localization. Schematic representation of the heart: copyright © 2005, Les Laboratoires Servier. PAH: pulmonary arterial hypertension.