Fig. 6

M2 macrophages infiltration predominates in human IPF lung tissues. a The expression of iNOS (M1 macrophage marker) and CD206 (M2 macrophage marker) in IPF fibroblastic focus were examined by immunohistochemistry. Representative images are shown (n = 7). b The expression of collagen I, β-catenin, Wnt7a, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in human IPF lung tissues was measured by western blotting. The expression levels were quantified with ImageJ (lower panels; n = 3). GAPDH was used as a loading control. Results are normalized to the expression of each individual protein in the control which is given a value of 1 and are expressed as means ± SD (*p < 0.05 vs. Control). c Expression of Wnt7a protein in CD206⁺ M2 macrophages was measured by immunofluorescence assay. Arrow indicates individual cells positive for both CD206 (green) and Wnt7a (red). Representative images are shown