(A) In early and short-term cultures at the ALI, COPD-related FOXJ1 down-regulation correlates with the disease severity, witnessed by the FEV1. Correlation graphs include only Smo and COPD samples to specifically assess the correlation with the disease severity. (B) In short-term cultures at the ALI, COPD-related DNAI1 down-regulation correlates with the disease severity, witnessed by the FEV1. Correlation graphs include only Smo and COPD samples to specifically assess the correlation with the disease severity. (C)
Left panel: FOXA3 mRNA level in Smo ALI-AE is non-significantly increased at all time periods, as compared with non-smokers. Right panel: longitudinal analysis of FOXA3 mRNA levels, confirming the upward trend and depicting significantly increased FOXA3 expression in Smo AE as compared with NS. *** indicates P-values of less than 0.001. Bars indicate median ± interquartile range, except for g, mean ± SEM. AE, airway epithelium; ALI, air-liquid interface; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; FEV1, forced expired volume in 1 s; NS, non-smokers; ns, not significant; SEM, standard error of the mean; Smo, smokers; PV, predicted values.