Review Article

Apoptosis and the Airway Epithelium

Figure 3

Demonstration of apoptotic airway epithelial cells, as demonstrated by TUNEL stain for single-strand DNA nicking using a peroxidase method (brown, with hematoxylin counter label), in an endobronchial biopsy of a normal subject (a) and of a subject with chronic, persistent asthma (b). Note the substantial difference in the height of the epithelium and the gaps in the epithelium at the basement membrane between the two biopsies, and the loss of ciliated cells in asthmatic biopsy. The appropriate controls (not shown here) do not label. Original magnification, 200x. From the author’s laboratory.
948406.fig.003a
(a)
948406.fig.003b
(b)