Research Article

TLR4 Activation Promotes the Progression of Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis to Dilated Cardiomyopathy by Inducing Mitochondrial Dynamic Imbalance

Figure 2

TLR4 activation increased the cardiomyocyte apoptosis and myocardial fibrosis in DCM mice. (a) Apoptotic cell nuclei of cardiac sections in each group were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) staining (green) and total nuclei by 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining (blue). Bar, 50 μm. (b) Quantitative analysis of percentage of cardiomyocytes undergoing apoptosis in vivo (). (c) Representative illustrations of inflammatory cell infiltration in cardiac sections taken by H&E staining (×20). (d) Masson staining of left ventricular tissue slices depicting fibrosis (blue area) (×20). (e) Quantitative analysis showing percentage area of fibrosis (). versus sham; , versus control; versus control.