Fig. 2

Loss of MBNL1 stimulates EMT ex vivo in a stage-specific manner. Images of wild type (a, a’) or Mbnl1 ^∆E3/∆E3 (b, b’) E9 AVC explant cultures were taken in the plane of focus of the surface of the gel (a, b) and beneath the surface of the gel (a’, b’) to show invaded mesenchymal cells. Filled arrowheads indicate cells in the focal plane, whereas open arrowheads indicate the same cells out of focus in a different plane. c AVC regions from E9 or E9.5 wild type or Mbnl1 ^∆E3/∆E3 hearts were explanted onto collagen gels. The number of explants per group is indicated. An asterisk indicates a significant difference from wild type (P ≤ 0.05). d Conditioned supernatants were collected from E9 wild type and Mbnl1 ^∆E3/∆E3 AVC explants and the levels of active TGFβ proteins secreted into the media were assayed by ELISA