Figure 5
Cardiac fibrosis developed in UUO/CKD mice. (A) Masson’s trichrome staining of cardiac tissue revealed the presence of interstitial fibrosis in the UUO/CKD hearts. Increased fibrosis was substantial and diffuse in the UUO heart. Bar = 100 μm. (B) Expression of collagen type 1 and fibronectin was significantly elevated in the UUO/CKD hearts compared to the controls, as determined by qRT-PCR. The expression levels of individual genes were normalized to the expression level of β-actin. *P < 0.05 vs. Control. (C) Immunofluorescence staining for collagen type 1 (Col I) revealed diffusely increased collagen deposits in the UUO heart. In particular, there was a pattern of intercardiomyocytic accumulation of collagen type I in the UUO/CKD heart (upper panel). Immunofluorescence staining for fibronectin (FN) revealed increased accumulation of fibronectin in the interstitium and between cardiomyocytes in the UUO/CKD heart (lower panel). Bar = 100 μm. (D) Immunoblotting revealed significantly increased expression of collage type I and fibronectin in UUO/CKD hearts compared to the controls. The signal intensities of collagen type I and fibronectin were normalized to the signal intensity of β-actin, and presented in the graph (lower panel). *P < 0.05 vs. Control. Bar values represent means ± SEM (error bars). Statistical analyses were performed with t-tests. N = 9.
