Research Article

NOX2 Is Critical to Endocardial to Mesenchymal Transition and Heart Development

Figure 2

Congenital heart defects in Nox2-/- mice at P0. (a) Representative histological images of normal and abnormal hearts. Nox2-/- mice exhibited ASD, a complete AVCD (arrows point to interrupted septum primum and VSD), and membranous and muscular (arrows) types of VSD. (b) Representative histological images of tricuspid and mitral valves. (c) Toluidine blue staining of extracellular glycosaminoglycans (light purple) in AV valves. (d) Picrosirius red staining of collagen fibers. (e–g) Quantification of mitral and tricuspid valve length and AV valve thickness. (h) Quantification of the total glycosaminoglycan- (GAG-) positive area in AV valves. (i) Quantification of collagen deposition in mitral and tricuspid valves. and vs. WT by Student’s -test. per group. Scale bar in (a) is 200 μm and 100 μm in (b–d).