Figure 2.

AT-II cell impairments by inflammatory cytokines. (A and B) Primary culture of AT-II cells were stained with green fluorescence, measured using immunofluorescence. Exposure to cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α and interleukins 6 and 1β) resulted in (C) damaged cell morphology and (D) reduced AT-II cell proliferation measured by the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. ^*P<0.05 vs. AT-II cells (normal medium). (E) Western blotting indicated downregulated protein levels of SP-A and the α1-subunit following inflammatory insult. (Scale bars in A–C, 50 µm). AT-II cell, alveolar type II epithelial cell; SP-A, surfactant protein A; OD, optical density.