Fig 1.
Functional performance and respiratory function of wild type, Sgca-/- and Sgcd-/- males.
(A) Body weight. (B) Four limb grip strength normalised for body weight. (C) Maximal two limb hanging times. (D) Maximal four limb hanging times. (E) Respiratory amplitude corrected for body weight. (F) Respiratory rate. N = 6–18 male mice per group. Values are presented as mean ± SD. *p<0.05, **p<0.01.
Fig 2.
Histological analysis of muscle quality.
(A) Representative images (20x magnification) of H&E staining of the gastrocnemius of each genotype and age group. Scale bars represent 100 μm. (B) Quantification of affected tissue. N = 6 male mice per group. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice, #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).
Fig 3.
Fibrosis and fat formation in Sgca-/- and Sgcd-/- males.
(A) Quantification of fibrosis by Sirius Red staining. (B-F) Gene expression of fibrotic markers Col1a1 (B), Lox (C), Pdgfrα (D), Ctgf (E) and Ltbp4 (F). (G) Gene expression of Pparγ, a marker for fatty infiltration. N = 5-6 male mice per group. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice, #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).
Fig 4.
Regeneration in Sgca-/- and Sgcd-/- males.
(A-D) Muscle fibre area distribution measured by staining with laminin. (E-H) Gene expression of Myh3 (E). Since Myh3 was not detectable in wild type mice, values were put at zero. MyoG (F), Nox2 (G) and Stat3 (H). N = 5-6 male mice per group. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice, #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).
Fig 5.
Inflammation and calcification in Sgca-/- and Sgcd-/- males.
(A and B) Gene expression of Cd68 (A) and Lgals3 (B). (C) Quantification of calcification by the Alizarin Red staining. N = 5-6 male mice per group. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice. #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).
Fig 6.
(A-D) Relative levels of miR-1a (A), miR-206 (B), miR-30e (C) and miR-133b (D) in 8, 16 and 34 weeks old mice. N = 4-6 male mice per group. For miR-30e, the level of 16-weeks-old wild type mice is based on n = 3. Levels of 8-weeks-old wild type mice were put at 1. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice, #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).
Fig 7.
Heart pathology in Sgcd-/- males.
(A) Collagen type I staining of fibrotic area. Gene expression of Col1a1 (B) and Ctgf (C). N = 6 male mice per group. *p<0.05 vs age-matched wild type mice, #p<0.05 over time (same genotype).