Fig. 2: Areg deficiency leads to abnormal cardiac electrical conduction at steady-state and lethal arrhythmias under cardiac stress.

a ECGs from freely moving Areg^−/− mice recorded using telemetry. Spontaneous AV block, PVCs, and sinus arrest or SA block were observed in Areg^−/− mice. Bars indicate 200 msec. b Survival rates among WT and Areg^−/− mice after PAB. *P < 0.001, log-rank test. c Representative ECG from an Areg^−/− mouse showing complete AV block and ventricular arrest after PAB. d, e BM chimeric mice that received WT (WT-BMT) or Areg^−/− (Areg^−/−-BMT) BM were subjected to PAB. Survival rates after PAB are in d. *P < 0.001, log-rank test. In e, a representative ECG from an Areg^−/−-BMT mouse after PAB is shown. f Survival curves for clodronate-treated mice with or without continuous administration of AREG (5 μg/day) from 24 h before PAB. n = 10 in each group. *P < 0.01, log-rank test. g, h WT and Areg^−/− mice were intraperitoneally administered isoproterenol (bolus, 5 mg/kg). Survival rates are shown in g. In h, representative ECGs from WT and Areg^−/− mice are shown. *P < 0.05, log-rank test. i Numbers of Langendorff-perfused hearts that developed VT/VF. *P < 0.01 (χ²-test).