Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and age-related interstitial fibrosis in ErbB2 transgenic mice.

(A) H&E staining shows hypertrophied cardiomyocytes with enlarged nuclei in ErbB2 transgenic mice compared to wild type mice. Bar = 50 um. Masson trichrome staining was used to evaluate fibrosis in the hearts of 2 months (B) and 6 months old (C) wild type and ErbB2 transgenic mice. Bar = 50 um. (D) Representative images of WGA (wheat germ agglutinin) staining of left ventricle sections of wild type and ErbB2 transgenic mice hearts. (E) Isolated unstained cardiomyocytes from wild type and ErbB2 transgenic mice hearts. (F) Measurement of area of cardiomyocytes, isolated from wild type and ErbB2 transgenic hearts. 12–25 cardiomyocytes (3–4 mice per genotype) were used for calculations. The data are presented as the mean ± SD. All the studies were performed on 8–10 weeks old mice, unless different age is specified.