Cardiac dilation and TEM analysis of 3- and 6-month old Dsp mutant zebrafish hearts. A–A′-A″: 1-year old -ab mutant ventricles showed a statistically significantly dilation (P < 0.05) in comparison with WT controls. Sample size: n = 10. Error bars: SEM. R.R relative ratio. *p < 0.05. Test: Unpaired t-test. B–B′–B″–C–C′–C″: TEM analysis of 3- and 6-month-old mutated zebrafish heart revealed “pale”, disorganized and delocalized desmosomes. 6-month old -ab hearts showed a significantly increased distance in the extracellular space. Sample size: n = 60 ± 10 desmosome in 3 mutated and WT hearts. Error bars: SEM. ns not significant; **p < 0.01. Test: Unpaired t-test.
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