Figure 5

Protein expression of early cardiac transcription factors is influenced by infarct microenvironment. Representative Western blot images for both cardiac transcription factors (Nkx2.5 and Gata4) as well as a housekeeping gene (β-actin) are presented. Relative expression levels for each cardiac marker are normalized to β-actin and presented for each condition. For the Nkx2.5 plot, the healthy, 25-kPa condition is significantly higher than all other conditions. For GATA4, the 4 week, 40 kPa condition is significantly greater than the TCP condition and thehealthy, 40 kPa gel condition (*P < 0.05 and n = 5 for each condition).