Fig. 5.

Effects of Cav-1 downregulation on the expression and distribution of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-4 in alveolar epithelial monolayers with normoxia exposure. At 60–70 % confluence, alveolar epithelial cells were treated with normoxia exposure, control siRNA transfection, and siRNA-Cav-1 transfection (10 nm) for 72 h. mRNA (a, b), protein (c, d), and distribution (e) of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-4 were monitored by RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. (e) Green represents ZO-1 and occludin, and red represents claudin-4 (800× magnification). Values are represented as the means ± SD, ^## P < 0.01 for comparison with the normoxia-treated group and ^** P < 0.01 for comparison with the control siRNA-transfected group