New Role of Adult Lung c-kit⁺ Cells in a Mouse Model of Airway Hyperresponsiveness

Figure 4

c-kit⁺ cells interfere with lung inflammation. (a–c) With respect to controls (a), massive accumulation of inflammatory cells is visible in the lungs of OVA animals (b). The infiltration is markedly reduced in c-kit⁺-treated asthmatic mice (c). (d, e) Mast cells (toluidine blue, arrows) in the lungs of vehicle- (d) and c-kit⁺ cell-treated (e) asthmatic mice. (f) The number of mast cells per mm² of tissue. (g) Total cell number and differential cell count in the BAL collected from control, OVA, and OVA+cCs mice. (h) Cytokine levels measured in the BAL. (i–l) Macrophage polarization as revealed by iNOS (green) and arginase-1 (red) immunostainings in OVA and OVA+cCs lungs. Scale bars, (a–c, i–l) 50 μm and (d, e) 20 μm. Data in control, OVA, and OVA+cCs mice are the mean ± SD. versus control; versus OVA. BALF: bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; mac: macrophages; lymph: lymphocytes; PMN: polymorphonuclear leukocytes; eos: eosinophiles; iNOS: inducible nitric oxide synthase.

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