Fig. 2: Effects of knocking down ZFAS1 on the expression of apoptosis related proteins.

a–d The expression of caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bax was significantly increased, and that of Bcl2 was decreased in heart with myocardial infarction (MI) compared with Sham-operation control mice. The expression was reversed by transfection with AAV9-shZFAS1. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. Sham, #P < 0.05 vs. MI, §§P < 0.01 vs. MI + shZFAS1-V; n = 5 for caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bcl2, n = 7 for Bax. e, f The expression of Bax was significantly increased and Bcl2 was decreased in cultured cardiomyocytes after hypoxia treatment for 12 h. Note that silencing ZFAS1 by siZFAS1 normalized the Bax and Bcl2 expression.*P < 0.05 vs. Control, #P < 0.05 vs. Hypoxia; n = 6 for Bax, n = 5 for Bcl2. Data are presented as means ± SEM.