Aspergillus fumigatus Infection-Induced Neutrophil Recruitment and Location in the Conducting Airway of Immunocompetent, Neutropenic, and Immunosuppressed Mice

Figure 2

Distribution of neutrophils in the airway wall of intact and A. fumigatus-infected mice. (a–b) Representative maximum-intensity projection volume-rendering images (left panels) and surface-rendering images (middle and right panels) of the airway wall of intact mice (a) and A. fumigatus-infected mice 6 h after receiving conidia (b) showing the distribution of neutrophils (green) above the smooth muscle layer (ActinRed, light cyan or brown). Grid spacing: 20 μm. In the surface rendering images, the epithelium (light cyan) was removed (upper-right panel) or the images were rotated 180 degrees (lower-right panel). Neutrophils located on the luminal side of the smooth muscle layer are highlighted by arrows (a) (upper right), while those below the smooth muscle layer are highlighted by arrowheads (a) (lower right). (c) Frontal (x–y projection) and side (z–y projection) views of the image represented in (b) (left) and quantitative analysis of the number of airway wall neutrophils in intact mice (0 h) and infected mice at 6 h after A. fumigatus conidium inhalation (right). The dotted line in the z–y projection indicates the arbitrary border of the airway wall. The data shown represent the independent experiments at 0 h ( mice) and at 6 h ( mice); each dot indicates the average of four measurements. , Mann–Whitney U test.

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