Fig. 7

Alleviation of TAC-induced cardiac fibrosis by AAV9-shNeat1. A Schema of the procedure for injection of AAV9 carrying shNeat1. B The silencing efficiency of AAV9-shNeat1 was verified by q-PCR (n = 6 in each group). C Representative results of picrosirius red staining of heart tissues obtained from the indicated groups (n = 7 in each group). D Representative immunofluorescence images of collagen I expression in the left ventricular tissue of the indicated groups (n = 7 in each group; scale bar = 100 µm). E Representative M-mode images of the indicated groups and EF% quantified by echocardiography (n = 8 in each group). F, G Representative western blot and quantitative analysis of cardiac fibrosis and Smad7 pathway-related proteins in left ventricular tissues from the indicated groups (n = 6 in each group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, NS = no significant difference between the indicated groups