FIGURE 8.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)10 treatment in vitro has beneficial effects on human precision cut lung slices. a) Bromodeoxyuridine-positive (BrdU⁺) cells in precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) obtained from COPD lungs (n=6) and in vitro treated with recombinant human FGF10 for 24 h. Quantification of proliferation shown as the number of BrdU⁺ cells⋅mm⁻² of the analysed tissue area. b–d) Immunostaining and quantification of b) alveolar epithelial type 2 cells (AT2; percentage of HT2–280-positive cells) and c) endothelial cells (platelet and endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)1 fluorescence intensity) in human COPD PCLS with or without FGF10 treatment at 24 h and 48 h time points (n=5). No significant changes in nuclei count were detected between analysed groups. d) Representative images of immunostaining in PCLS obtained using laser scanning confocal microscopy. e) Protein expression of β-catenin and WNT3A and quantification by densitometry in PCLS homogenates upon 24 h of in vitro treatment with recombinant human FGF10 (n=6). In the quantification panels, each dot represents a measurement obtained from one human PCLS (five to six different COPD lungs). Immunohistochemistry: red: BrdU; blue: haematoxylin. The mean value for each group is represented by a horizontal line (±sd). Statistical analysis: a, e) paired t-test; b, c) paired two-way ANOVA; p-values for each comparison and interaction are given in the graphs. Bold type represents statistical significance. αSMA: α-smooth muscle actin.