Phosphorylations of MAP kinase and nuclear transcriptional factor, NF-κB after TAC operation.

<p>A. Increase in phosphorylations of MAPK and NF-κB after TAC operation in PTX3-KO mice (left panel) and in PTX3-TG mice (right panel). B. Modulation of ERK1/2 and NF-κB p65 phosphorylation in PTX3-KO (left), PTX3-TG (right), compared with WT mice. C. ERK1/2 phosphorylation after recombinant PTX3 stimulation (left panel; cardiac myocytes, right panel; cardiac fibroblasts). *P<0.01 vs. sham-operated mice of the same strain. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 8).</p

Quantitative analysis of profibrotic and fetal type genes expression by real-time PCR in PTX3-KO (left) and in PTX3-TG (right) at 2 weeks after TAC or sham operation (n = 8).

<p>A, CTGF; B, collagen type I; C, collagen type III; D, β- MHC to α-MHC ratio; and E, ANF. Each expression levels was normalized to the GAPDH levels and expressed as fold increase over the levels in the respective WT sham-operated mice. *<i>P</i><0.01 vs. expression in sham mice of the same strain. Results are expressed as mean ± SD.</p

Increase in PTX3 expression after TAC operation and H₂O₂ stimulation.

<p>A. Time course of PTX3 expression in heart tissue after TAC. B. Immunohistochemistry of heart samples after TAC operation using anti PTX3 antibody. (top; ×200, bottom; ×400) C. PTX3 expression after H₂O₂ stimulation using neonatal rat cardiac myocytes and cardiac fibroblasts (left panel; cardiac myocytes, right panel; cardiac fibroblasts).</p

Hypertrophic changes after TAC operation.

<p>A. Plasma concentrations of IL-6 at 5 days after TAC or sham operation in PTX3-KO mice (left) and PTX3-TG mice (right). B. IL-6 expression after TAC detected by quantitative PCR in PTX3-KO mice (left) and PTX3-TG mice (right). C. Representative photographs of hearts at 4 weeks after TAC and sham operation in PTX3-KO mice (left) and PTX3-TG mice (right). *<i>P</i><0.01 vs. sham mice of the same strain. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 6–8).</p

Hypertrophic and fibrotic changes after TAC operation.

<p>A. Representative histological micrographs of hematoxylin-eosin-stained and quantitative analysis of the cross-sectional areas of cardiomyocytes. B. Masson's trichrome-stained sections of the left ventricular myocardium in PTX3-KO mice strain (left) and in PTX3-TG mice strain (right) at 2 weeks after TAC or sham operation. C. Quantitative analysis of the fibrosis fractions at 2 weeks after TAC or sham operation, respectively (n = 8). *<i>P</i><0.01 vs. levels in sham-operated mice of the same strain. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 8).</p

Gravimetric and echocardiographic data of PTX3-KO mice after TAC.

<p>WT, Wild type; PTX3-KO, PTX3 systemic knockout mice; TAC, thoracic aortic constriction; BW, body weight; HW, heart weight; LW, lung wet weight; IVS, interventricular septal wall thickness; LVEDD, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVFS, left ventricular fractional shortening. All data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 10 per group).</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05 and</p>**<p><i>P</i><0.01 vs. sham-operated mice of the same strain;</p>#<p><i>P</i><0.05 and</p>##<p><i>P</i><0.01 vs. TAC-operated WT mice at each time point, respectively.</p

Gravimetric and echocardiographic data of PTX3-TG mice after TAC.

<p>Abbreviations as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0053133#pone-0053133-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. PTX3-TG, PTX3 cardiac-specific overexpression mice. All data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 10 per group,).</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05 and</p>**<p><i>P</i><0.01 vs. sham mice of the same strain;</p>#<p><i>P</i><0.05 and</p>##<p><i>P</i><0.01 vs. TAC-operated WT mice at each time point, respectively.</p