Journal: Cell Death & Disease

Article Title: Investigating PKD2 deficiency-associated cardiomyopathies using hESC-cardiomyocytes and bioengineered 3D ventricular cardiac tissue strips

doi: 10.1038/s41419-026-08639-8

Figure Lengend Snippet: A–C PKD2 knockdown with Ad-PKD2-shRNA1 increased the expression of ER stress markers, including GRP78, ATF4, cleaved ATF6, CHOP, and spliced XBP1. Shown are representative western blot images ( A ) and data summary ( B for H7-CMs, C for hvCTS). n = 3. PKD2 knockdown promoted apoptosis and necrosis of H7-CMs, as determined by flow cytometer analysis. Shown are representative images ( D ) and data summary ( E ). n = 6. PKD2 knockdown promoted apoptosis of H7-CMs, as determined by TUNEL assay. Shown are representative pictures ( F ) and summary data ( H ) of TUNEL-positive cells. PKD2 knockdown promoted cardiomyocyte apoptosis in hvCTS, as determined by TUNEL assay. Shown are representative pictures ( G ) and summary data ( I ) of TUNEL-positive cells. Violet, TUNEL; Green, cardiomyocyte marker cTnT; Blue, DAPI staining. In magnified images, small red arrows point to the TUNEL-positive cells. n = 6. Mean ± SEM. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.

Article Snippet: Primary antibodies were PKD2 (19126-1-AP, Proteintech, USA), SERCA (9580P, Cell Signaling Technology, USA), GRP78 (11587-1-AP, Proteintech, USA), ATF4 (10835-1-AP, Proteintech, USA), Cleaved ATF6 (24169-1-AP, Proteintech, USA), CHOP (15204-1-AP, Proteintech, USA), Spliced XBP1 (25997-1-AP, Proteintech, USA) and β-tubulin (2146, Cell Signaling Technology, USA).

Techniques: Knockdown, Expressing, Western Blot, Flow Cytometry, TUNEL Assay, Marker, Staining