Understanding Lung Deposition of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin in Acute Experimental Mouse Lung Injury Model Using Fluorescence Microscopy

Figure 5

Localization of neutrophil elastase activity by NE680 fluorescence in lung sections from naïve mice (a and e) or following single IT administration of PBS (b and f) or 5 mg/kg (c and g) or 30 mg/kg (d and h) of rAAT to ALI-induced mice. Panels show NE680 signal expression (red fluorescence, (a)–(d)) and in the context of lung tissue morphology, as revealed by autofluorescence (green fluorescence, (f)–(h)). (i) Measurement of neutrophil elastase activity by image analysis quantification of NE680 fluorescence in lung sections following single IT or IV administration of 5 or 30 mg/kg of rAAT to ALI-induced mice. Results are shown as mean SEM ( animals per dose group). There were no significant differences among groups based on one-way ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test; ).