The Expression of NOX4 in Smooth Muscles of Small Airway Correlates with the Disease Severity of COPD

Figure 5

An elevated expression of NOX4 in ASM cells of small airway in COPD lung. (a)–(d) The abundance of NOX4 protein in lung tissues determined by an IHC assay. (a)–(d) The expression of NOX4 protein in the small airway of human lung from control subject (a), and patients with mild (b), moderate (c), and severe (d) COPD were determined by IHC with antibody against NOX4. An increased abundance of NOX4 protein was observed in ASM layer of small airway (bracket) with the disease severity of COPD. (e) The levels of NOX4 protein in ASM of indicated groups were semiquantitatively evaluated by accessing average optical density (AOD) using the IPP6.0 software, which correlated to the disease severity of COPD. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA and -test for comparison between groups using the GraphPad Prism version 5 software. Data was presented as the mean ± SD, which were indicated in (e). Bars in (a) and (b): 100 μm; brackets in (a) and (b) represented the ASM layers. .

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