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

Figure 6

Colocalized NOX4 and α-SMA proteins in ASM cells of small airway in COPD lung. (a)-(b) Colocalization of NOX4 expression and -SMA in ASM cells of small airway by immunofluorescent assay. (a), (b) Representative images of colocalized expressions of NOX4 (green) and -SMA (red) proteins in the small airway of human lung from a control subject (a) and a patient with severe COPD (b). (c) Immunoblotting analysis determined the abundance of NOX4 and -SMA proteins in lung tissues of control subjects and COPD patients. (d) Semiquantitative analysis of the abundance of proteins of immunoblots in (c) by a densitometric analysis. More abundant NOX4 was found in COPD tissues. GAPDH was used as internal control for loading of samples, and 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI, blue) was used for nuclear staining in (a) and (b). Bars in (a) and (b): 50 μm; brackets in (a) and (b) represented the ASM layers. Compared to controls, for NOX4.

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