Fig. 2

PGC-1α protects against dystrophy independently of angiogenesis. a Tri-transgenic system to express both PGC-1α and sFlt1 in the muscle only and only in absence of doxycycline. MCK muscle creatine kinase promoter, tTA tetracycline-suppressed transactivator, TRE tTA-responsive promoter. b PGC-1α-induced angiogenesis is blocked in the presence of sFlt1: capillary density, identified by CD31 staining, in muscle cross sections from mdx mice bearing the indicated transgenes; quantification is on the right. c–e Despite absence of angiogenesis, PGC-1α protects against dystrophy: serum creatine kinase levels (c), sample Evans blue staining in diaphragm (d), and % central nuclei in gastrocnemius muscle (e) from mdx mice bearing the indicated transgenes. n = 8. *P < 0.05 versus mdx alone, ^# P < 0.05 versus mdx/Ind_PGC-1α, Student’s t test. Scale bar = 50 μm. Error bars indicate ±SEM