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Fig. 4. Overexpression of Xpreproapelin. (A) Control embryo at stage 45. The position of heart is indicated by an arrowhead. (B) The section through the heart region of control embryo at stage 45, showing separate atria (a) and ventricle (v) and prominent trabeculae (arrowhead). (C) Xpreproapelin mRNA (1 ng)-injected embryo at stage 45, showing edema and abnormal heart morphology (arrowhead). (D) Section of heart region of the Xpreproapelin mRNA-injected embryo at stage 45. The heart had thin walls and poor chamber separation (arrowhead). (E) Graph showing the frequencies of edematous embryos with 125 pg, 250 pg, 500 pg, and 1000 pg of Xpreproapelin mRNA (Ap mRNA) or 1000 pg of beta-galactosidase mRNA (Beta-gal)-injected. Three independent experiments were performed and similar results obtained. The graph shows the representative result of one experiment. (F–H) Expression of XlFli, SCL, and Nkx2.5 at stage 17 in the control embryos. (I) Expression of cTnI in the control embryo at stage 30. (J) Section through the heart region of control embryo at stage 30 showing a single heart tube (arrowhead). (K–M) Expression of XlFli, SCL, and Nkx2.5 at stage 17 in the Xpreproapelin mRNA (1 ng)-injected embryo. (N) Expression of cTnI in the Xpreproapelin-injected embryo at stage 30. (O) Section through the heart region of the Xpreproapelin-injected embryo at stage 30, showing a separated heart tube (arrowheads). The black line in panels I and N indicates the level of the sections shown in panels J and O. Scale bar: 100 μm. |
