Fig. 1

Carbon particles exposure aggravated airway remodeling in mouse chronic asthma model. Mice were sensitized with 10 mg OVA by intraperitoneal injection, and then administered by repeated aerosol challenges containing 3% OVA and carbon particles (2 mg/ml) over a 6-week period. The flow rate of ultrasonic atomized machine was 2 ml/min. Lungs of mice were harvested at day 60. A Representative images of proximal and distal intrapulmonary airways with Masson staining. Original magnification, ×400. B Collagen deposition area (%) of proximal airways in each group (n = 5). C Airway mucus secretion of proximal and distal intrapulmonary airways based on PAS staining (black arrows). Original magnification, ×400. D The quantification histograms of PAS staining in proximal airways (n = 5). E Representative images of immunohistochemistry staining of MUC5AC. Original magnification, ×400. F The quantification histograms of IHC MUC5AC staining in proximal airways (n = 5). G Representative immunoblots of collagen-I and α-SMA proteins in lung lysates. H Changes in protein levels of collagen-I (n = 5) and α-SMA (n = 6). Data are shown as mean ± SEM of n individual experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 (versus control); #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01, ###P < 0.001 (versus asthma). P values were determined by one-way ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni’s test