COL3A1 and myocardial infarction: Some 6 weeks after surgery, Masson’s trichrome staining revealed evident myocardial scarring in the hearts of MI mice, as depicted in Figure 1A. Additionally, the hearts of MI mice showed significantly increased mRNA expression levels of genes involved in fibrosis, as depicted by a 5.0-, 5.0- and a 4.9-fold increased expression of galectin-3 (Lgals3, p = 0.0002), collagen type I alpha I chain (Col1a1, p < 0.0001) and collagen type III alpha I chain (Col3a1, p < 0.0001), respectively (Figure 1B).