Fig. 2

Effects of MrgD upregulation or downregulation on cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. A, MrgD overexpression altered the mRNA levels of Nppa, and Nppb, as well as the ratio of Myh 6/7 in NRCM. B, MrgD downregulation reversed the mRNA changes of Nppa, and Nppb in NRCM induced by Ang II. C, MrgD knockdown attenuated the increase in the size of NRCM induced by AngII. D, MrgD overexpression increased the protein levels of α-SMA, TGF-β and collagen I in NRCF. E, MrgD downregulation reversed the increase in α-SMA, TGF-β and collagen I induced by AngII in NRCF. F, Echocardiographic images of hearts. G-I, Cardiac size, HW/BW and HW/TL were increased after MrgD overexpression in the heart. J, MrgD overexpression increased the cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes in the rats as indicated by HE and WGA staining. K, MrgD overexpression increased the cardiac fibrosis level in the rats, as indicated by masson and picrosirius red staining. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM. n = 4, 5 or 6 biological replicates per group. ^nsP > 0.05, ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001, ^****P < 0.0001