Fig. 1. Experimental protocol. ( A ) Experiments for infarct size measurements (all groups n = 7). ( B ) Experiments for subsequent western blot assay; 12 groups (all n = 4) received vehicle, calphostin C, or PD98059, and the hearts were excised at four different time points. Control; Des-PC = desflurane preconditioning; Wash = washout; Calph C = calphostin C; PD = PD98059; Base = baseline; the arrows mark the time of blocker infusion 10 min before pharmacological preconditioning with desflurane.