Fig. 1. Gal-3 expression is up-regulated during chronic airway allergic inflammation.

Gal-3 levels in BALF (A) and total lung tissue lysates (B) from control (PBS-exposed) and OVA-challenged WT mice were determined by Western blot analysis using rabbit antibodies against human Gal-3. Blots with lung tissue lysates were probed with HRP-conjugated anti-mouse β-actin to monitor levels of β-actin expression as an internal control. Bands were visualized on X-ray films, scanned and analyzed using ImageJ to quantitate the density (pixels) of the bands. Results (mean ± SE) were normalized for β-actin expression in the case of lung lysates (n = 4 mice/group). Inset in (A) and (B) show Gal-3 expression in BALF and lung lysate from representative control and OVA-challenged mice, respectively. *p < 0.05 compared with WT control mice. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on lung sections from control and OVA-challenged mice using rabbit antibodies against human Gal-3 as described in Materials and Methods. Representative images from each group at a magnification of ×200 are shown (C).