Figure 2.
Exogenous mucus stimulates intracellular calcium release in primary HBE cells. (A) Representative images of HBE monolayers loaded with Fluo-4AM to monitor [Ca2+]i and treated apically with 50 μl of PBS, synthetic mucus, and ATP (100 μM). Application of test conditions was made at the far side of the monolayer, and imaging was conducted continuously by confocal microscopy until material reached imaging field. Change in fluorescence over baseline (FT=t − FT=0) is plotted. (B) Mean fluorescent intensity over time for cells treated with synthetic mucus, PBS, and ATP. For each experiment, 3–60 cells were monitored. n = 4/condition. (C) Change in baseline fluorescence intensity at time of peak fluorescence (T = 19.44 s). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.005. Data presented are means (± SEM).