Limb-Bud and Heart (LBH) Upregulation in Cardiomyocytes under Hypoxia Promotes the Activation of Cardiac Fibroblasts via Exosome Secretion

Figure 5

CFs isolated from LBH^KO mice showed partially mitigated CF activation under TGF-β stimulation. (a) Protein levels of LBH, CRYAB, collagen I, α-SMA, E-cadherin, vimentin, and TGF-β1 in CFs isolated from LBH^WT and LBH^KO mice ( and vs. LBH^WT). (b) Protein levels of LBH, collagen I, α-SMA, E-cadherin, and vimentin in both LBH^WT and LBH^KO mouse CFs under TGF-β stimulation (, , and vs. LBH^WT-Ctrl; , , and vs. LBH^KO-Ctrl; , , and vs. LBH^WT-TGF). (c) Representative images of the Transwell assay of LBH^WT and LBH^KO mouse CFs under TGF-β stimulation and the corresponding statistical analysis ( vs. LBH^WT-Ctrl; vs. LBH^KO-Ctrl; vs. LBH^WT-TGF).