Fig 2: Serum SPARC levels for either the absence or presence of sarcopenia. The SPARC levels are compared between the placebo group and the vitamin D group by the Mann–Whitney test.

Fig 3: BET proteins regulate expression of key drivers of fibrosis in HRMCs. HRMCs were treated with TGF-β1 ± BETi or TGFBRi for 24 h, followed by gene expression analysis by real-time PCR (left column (A,C,E,G); n = 4 or 5). For secreted proteins (right column (B,D,F,H)), HRMCs were treated for 48 h. Cell culture media were clarified of debris by centrifugation, and the indicated proteins quantified by ELISA (n = 3). Data are presented as mean ± SD. Statistical analysis by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s Multiple Comparison Test. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, NS not significant. THBS1: thrombospondin 1 gene. FN1: fibronectin gene. POSTN: periostin gene. SPARC gene and SPARC protein: secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine. TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor β1. Apabetalone: BD2-selective BET inhibitor. JQ1: pan-BET inhibitor. MZ1: PROTAC that directs BET proteins for degradation.

Fig 4: ELISA of candidate biomarker proteins. (A) SPARC. (B) Cystatin C. (C) Catalase. The Scatter plots represent the individual concentrations of all the samples in the group as dots. Mean of the values is indicated by horizontal lines. * indicates p < 0.05; and *** indicates p < 0.001

Fig 5: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measurements of the levels of protectin (CD59), osteonectin (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, SPARC), perlecan (heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2, HSPG2), and fibronectin (FN1) in the pre-centrifuged, serum-free cell culture supernatant (2000× g) from primary human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC, top) and primary human internal thoracic artery endothelial cells (HITAEC, bottom) treated with Dulbecco’s phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS), magnesiprotein particles (MPP), primary calciprotein particles (CPP-P), or secondary calciprotein particles (CPP-S) for 24 h. Blue, violet, pink and red dots are for the DPBS, MPP, CPP-P, and CPP-S-treated cells, respectively. Each dot on the plots represents one measurement (n = 12 measurements per group). Whiskers indicate the range, box bounds indicate the 25th–75th percentiles, and centre lines indicate the median. p values are provided above boxes, Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test.