Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibits Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells by Airway Epithelial Cells

Figure 1

VEGF inhibits the engulfment of apoptotic cells by AECs. (a) Isolated primary AECs were inoculated into 6-well plates ( cells/well) and treated with 500 ng/ml VEGF for 6 h. (original magnification ×400). (b) Epithelial cells were inoculated into 6-well plates ( cells/well) and treated with 50 μM curcumin for 72 h. Cell surface PS expression was assayed by flow cytometry. (c) Epithelial cells were inoculated into 12-well plates ( cells/well) and treated with 1, 10, 100, 300, 500, or 1000 ng/ml VEGF for 6 h before incubation with 10⁵ FITC-labeled curcumin-induced apoptotic cells for 4 h. After washing with PBS, phagocytosis by epithelial cells was assayed detection of fluorescence by flow cytometry. compared with 0 ng/ml VEGF. (d) Epithelial were seeded in 12-well plates ( cells/well) and treated 500 ng/ml with VEGF for 3, 6, or 9 h before incubating for 4 h with FITC-labeled curcumin-induced apoptotic cells. Engulfment of apoptotic cells was assayed by flow cytometry. compared with 0 h.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)