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Fig. 6 | Cell Communication and Signaling

Fig. 6

From: Calcium mediated functional interplay between myocardial cells upon laser-induced single-cell injury: an in vitro study of cardiac cell death signaling mechanisms

Fig. 6

Ablation of fibroblasts in myocytes-depleted cultures. a Time-series images (green) showing propagation of a transient, solitary wave of Ca2+ along fluorescently labeled fibroblasts after single-fibroblast ablation (red, refer Additional file 3: movie 3). Corresponding grey-scale images show grey values averaged over each of the concentric rings (Ring 1–8) for that time point. Scale bars: 50 µm. b Plot depicting changes in Ca2+ fluorescence intensity with time, indicating [Ca2+]i of cells before and after ablation. Inlay shows a zoom-in of the Ca2+ spike moving sequentially along the subsequent rings. c Mean Ca2+ propagation speed across the rings (Ring 1–10) after ablation in myocytes from myocyte-enriched cultures (dotted) and non-myocytes from myocyte-depleted cultures, with error bars showing s.e.m., N = 6 for myocytes; N = 7 for non-myocytes. The propagation speeds were significantly higher along the non-myocytes compared to those in myocytes for a distance of 100 µm from the ablated cell (Multiple t-tests, Holm-Šídák method, α = 0.05). d Plot depicting mean fold-increase in [Ca2+]i after ablation in myocytes and non-myocytes across all culture systems over a distance of 100 µm from the ablated cell, with error bars showing s.e.m., N = 16 for myocytes; N = 15 for non-myocytes. e Plot depicting mean Ca2+ full recovery times in myocytes and non-myocytes across all culture systems over a distance of 100 µm from the ablated cell, with error bars showing s.e.m., N = 14 for myocytes; N = 13 for non-myocytes. Both Ca2+ fold-increase as well as the Ca2+ full recovery times were significantly higher in myocytes than in non-myocytes across cocultures and enriched/depleted cultures for a distance of 100 µm from the ablated cell (Multiple t-tests, Holm-Šídák method, α = 0.05)

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