Fig. 5.

Protection by simvastatin in murine acute lung injury (ALI) is attenuated by inhibition of integrin-β4 as assessed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) protein and cell counts. Mice were administered simvastatin (20 mg/kg, 24 h) or vehicle intraperitoneally followed by intravenous integrin-β4 blocking antibody (ITGB4, 1 mg/kg) or a control antibody (IgG, 1 mg/kg) 4 h before concomitant treatment with a second dose of simvastatin and LPS (1.25 mg/kg intratracheally). BAL fluid was collected at 24 h and assessed for protein content (A) and cell counts (B) (n ≥ 3 animals/group, *P < 0.05). C: in separate experiments, Western blots of whole lung homogenates confirmed an attenuation of integrin-β4-mediated signaling (ERK phosphorylation) by simvastatin in LPS-treated mice (representative blots shown from duplicate experiments).