Neutrophil and neutrophil lysate exposure increased the explant permeability (a) and decreased ZO-1 (b) expression. In (a), the basolateral side of the explant was incubated with neutrophils or neutrophil lysate for 3 hours at . The apparent permeability was determined by [3H]-mannitol flux. Increased permeability induced by neutrophils or neutrophil lysate is seen compared with control (two separate experiments); the variations between experiments were less than 10%. In (b), the disruption of tight junction protein ZO-1 by neutrophils or neutrophil lysate in the RPE monolayer was compared by confocal immunofluorescent staining in 3 separate experiments. Quantitation of ZO-1 staining positive area was determined by LSM 510 image software. Both neutrophil and neutrophil lysate decreased the expression of ZO-1 expression.
