Fig. 5. Expression and cellular localization of components of the intercalated disc. Heart sections from wild-type (A,D,G), MHC/Ncad (B,E,H), and MHC/Ecad (C,F,I) animals 4-weeks old were analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence for distribution of ß-catenin (A,B,C), connexin 43 (D,E,F) and vinculin (G,H,I). ß-Catenin staining increased significantly in the intercalated disc and cytoplasm of both transgenic lines (B,C) in comparison to wild-type heart (A). In contrast, connexin 43 staining decreased in both lines with greater reduction seen in MHC/Ecad (F) compared with MHC/Ncad (E). Vinculin staining appeared more concentrated in the intercalated disc of MHC/Ncad (H) compared with wild-type (G) hearts. By contrast, redistribution of vinculin to the cytoplasm resulted in less intercalated disc staining in the MHC/Ecad heart (I). Bar, 25 µm.

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