Fig. 1

Circadian rhythm disruption exacerbated pulmonary fibrosis in C57BL/6J mice. All C57BL/6J mice were synchronized to a light dark cycle with 12 h of light and 12 h of darkness (LD) for 2 weeks. Then the CJL group was treated by advancing light onset 8 h in every 48 h, 5 days in rhythm disruption was exactly a cycle. The LD group was maintained at normal circadian rhythms. (A) Schematic diagram of animal model for disrupted circadian rhythms. (B, C) BMAL1 and DEC1 proteins were measured by western blotting, changes in relative density of BMAL1 and DEC1 were presented. n = 6. (D) Survival analysis of mice in each group. (E) Representative images of lung tissue with Masson staining. Original magnification, ×400. (F) Collagen deposition area (%) of lung tissue in each group. n = 6. (G) Representative immunoblots of collagen-I, DEC1 and α-SMA proteins in lung lysates. (H) Changes in protein levels of collagen-I, DEC1 and α-SMA (n = 5). Data are shown as mean ± SEM of n individual experiments. *P < 0.05, P values were determined by Student’s t-test (C) or one-way ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni’s test (F, H)