Metallothioneins 1 and 2 Modulate Inflammation and Support Remodeling in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy in Mice

Figure 1

MT1-/2-deficiency leads to cardiomyocyte loss and deterioration of left ventricular function. The mRNA of (a) MT1 and (b) MT2 is upregulated after 1, 3, and 7 days (d) in SV129 WT-mice. (c) Representative short axis -mode echocardiographs from WT- and M-mice after 7 days of (d) . (d) and (e) reveal worse left ventricular function of M-mice after 7 days of compared to the WT. Representative HE-stainings reveal no cellular infiltration in both sham groups (f and h), but interstitial cellular infiltrates (arrows) into WT-hearts after 7 days of (g), in contrast to microinfarcted areas with loss of cardiomyocytes (dotted line) and cellular infiltration (arrows) in MT-mice at the same time (h and i). = 8–10/group; scale bar in (f)–(i): 50 μm; RT-qPCR using Taqman®, mRNA expression is related to shams and GAPDH using comparative ΔΔCt-method; indicates P ≤ 0.05 between the genotypes; # indicates P ≤ 0.05 versus respective sham.

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