FIGURE 5.

TERC deficiency induced increases of α-SMA and Col1A1 gene expressions in pulmonary AECII. A and B, HP1γ and SPC staining in the pulmonary sections from G2 TERC-null mice, with representative micrographs (A) and the quantitative data (B) (mean ± S.D.) of 3–5 animals. C and D, α-SMA expression in lung tissue of TERC-null mice detected by immunofluorescence staining using specific antibodies. Enlarged images of WT and TERC-null are shown in D. E, the α-SMA mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR from TERC-null mice lungs. Data are the mean ± S.E. (error bars) from at least five animals. F, Western blotting assessment of SPC, α-SMA, and p53 immunoreactivities in the lung tissues of duplicate WT and G2 TERC-null mice. G and H, Col1A1 expression in the lung tissues of TERC-null mice was measured by immunofluorescence staining using specific antibodies. Relative quantification of Col1A1 immunoreactivity was analyzed by Softworx software (D). Data are the mean ± S.D. (error bars) from three representative experiments. Representative images are shown in E.