Figure 3.

E-cadherin is necessary for the repair of conducting airway epithelium after injury. Five-week-old mice were treated as indicated. Mice were recovered following 2 or 18 days from naphthalene or corn oil exposures. (A) Immunohistochemical staining of lung sections for Scgb1a1. Images are representative of n = 4 separate mice per treatment group. Br, bronchiole. (B) Double immunofluorescence staining of a lung section for Scgb1a1 (red) and Ki67 (green) shows actively proliferating naphthalene-resistant Clara cells in bronchiolar epithelium of a medium airway (dotted line) 2 days after naphthalene treatment. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). (C) Immunohistochemical staining of lungs sections for CYP2F2. Red arrows indicate naphthalene-resistant Clara cells. Black arrows and green brackets indicate Scgb1a1-negative regions. Insets represent higher magnification of the areas shown in boxed areas. Blue circles indicate increased cellular densities. Hematoxylin (blue) was used as a counterstain. (D and E) Morphometric quantification of the epithelial damage at day 2 and day 18 after naphthalene-mediated injury. The impact of treatment on epithelial repair was determined through analysis of Scgb1a1 (E) or CYP2F2 (D) repopulation. Results are presented as means ± SEM for each group (n = 4). *P < .05. BM, basement membrane.