FIGURE 7.

In vivo silencing of AR and CTGF expression in a bleomycin model of pulmonary fibrosis by SAMiRNAs via intravenous delivery. 8-week-old WT mice were challenged with bleomycin (BLM) and treated with control, AR, and CTGF SAMiRNAs (3 mg/kg) delivered via intravenous injection on days 7, 9, and 11 after bleomycin challenge. The mice were sacrificed and evaluated on day 14. A, collagen content in the lungs from these mice was evaluated by Sircol collagen assay. Data are mean ± S.E. ##, p < 0.01 compared with PBS control; *, p < 0.05 compared with BLM-SAM-Cont. B, Mallory trichrome staining of lungs treated with vehicle (PBS), bleomycin, bleomycin and control (BLM+SAM-Cont), AR (BLM+SAM-AR), and CTGF (BLM+SAM-CTGF) SAMiRNA and CTGF+AR in combination (BLM+SAM-Combo). Scale bars = 400 μm.