Anne-Marie Koop

260 Table 1 . MRI assessment of right ventricle function parameters of Hand2F/F and MCM- Hand2F/F mice at 2 and 6 weeks of sham or PAB Data are expressed as means ± SEM. ED, end-diastole; ES, end-systole; RV, right ventricle; EF, ejection fraction. *, indicates p <0.05 vs sham group; #, indicates p <0.05 vs experimental group. n.s.=5-10 animals per group Figure 1 . Cardiac specific depletion of Hand2 sensitizes the RV to pressure overload. a) Design of the in vivo study; b) Assessment of pulmonary artery pressure gradient in control (Hand2F/F) and knockout (MCM- Hand2F/F) mice 5 days after either sham or PAB surgery; c) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Hand2 expression in RV tissue from Hand2F/F and MCM-Hand2F/F animals either after sham or PAB surgery; d) Representative images of short-axis plan in end-diastole and end-systole hearts obtained by cardiac resonance image from Hand2F/F and MCM-Hand2F/F animals either after sham or PAB surgery Cardiac function was assessed in hearts from Hand2F/F and MCM-Hand2F/F animals either after sham or PAB surgery, and followed by quantitative analysis: e) RV end-diastolic volumes (EDV) and f) RV end-systolic volumes (ESV); g) RV ejection fraction (EF); h) RV stroke volume; i) RV end-diastolic mass; j) RV end-systolic mass; k) Cardiac output. Data are from 5-10 animals per group; ∗ p < 0.05 between indicated groups (error bars are s.e.m.).