Fig. 8

Effect of THBS4 suppression on pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH rats induced by MCT plus aorto-caval shunt. (A) The AAV transfection efficiency was determined by detecting green fluorescence protein which is encoded by AAV in lung tissues. Scare bars, 100 μm. (B) THBS4 suppression efficiency determined by immunofluorescence staining of THBS4. Scare bars, 50 μm. (C) Hematoxylin and Eosin staining of lung tissues. Scare bars,100 μm. (D) Immunofluorescence staining of α-SMA in lung tissues. Scare bars,100 μm. The percentage of non-muscularized (E), partially-muscularized (F), and fully-muscularized pulmonary arterioles (G). (H) The percentage of wall thickness. (I) The percentage of wall area. (G) Cross-sectional area of the right ventricular cardiomyocyte. Scare bars,100 μm. The resultant data are represented as mean ± SD. CON: control group; SHAM: sham group; MS-AAV-CON: administration of control AAV + MCT plus aorto-caval shunt induced PAH rats; MS-AAV-siTHBS4: administration of THBS4 suppression AAV + MCT plus aorto-caval shunt induced PAH rats. PA: pulmonary arteriole. ^*P < 0.05; ^**P < 0.01; ^***P < 0.001; ^****P < 0.0001