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

Figure 4

Macrophage and neutrophils infiltrate into areas of microinfarctions in M-hearts. MAC-2 staining of representative left ventricular sections after 7 days of (d) demonstrates predominant interstitial macrophage infiltration (arrow) in WT-hearts (a), in contrast to increased macrophage density in microinfarctions (arrows) in M-hearts (b). (c) Quantification of MAC-2⁺ cells shows increased macrophage infiltration after 3 and 7 days of (d) in both genotypes. Differential analysis of macrophage accumulation revealed that macrophages were mainly located in the interstitial spaces in WT-hearts (d) but to an equal number in microinfarctions in M-hearts (e). Representative MCA771G stained sections of WT- (f) and M-hearts (g) after 7 days of (arrows: neutrophils). (h) Quantification of MCA771G⁺ cells showed higher neutrophil infiltration in M-hearts after 3 days of compared to WT. Neutrophil distribution was comparable to macrophages (i and j). = 8–10/group; scale bars in (a), (b), (f), and (g): 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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