2.2. H9C2 Cell Culture

The rat embryonic cardiac cell line H9C2 was purchased from Peking Union Cell Culture Center. As previously reported [23, 24], the cells were maintained in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, penicillin/streptomycin and 4 mM L-glutamine in a CO₂ incubator (Shellab, USA) at 37°C. The medium was changed every 2-3 days and the cells were subcultured when they reached 70-80% confluency. The cells in the logarithmic phase of growth were harvested by trypsin digestion and seeded into 12 well plates for subsequent experiments.