Figure 1.

Decreased phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lung tissues and primary lung fibroblast cell lines. (a) PTEN expression was decreased in myofibroblasts within fibroblastic foci. Representative serial lung sections from one patient with IPF were stained for (a, b) hematoxylin and eosin (HE), (c) α-smooth muscle actin (SMA), and (d) PTEN. Myofibroblasts were identified by strong α-SMA staining. Fibrotic focus is indicated with a black arrow. Scale bar, 100 µm. Relative intensity of cytoplasmic PTEN in myofibroblasts within fibroblastic focus compared with the surrounding cells. Quantitative analysis was performed by ScanScope®AT. (b) The expression of PTEN was decreased in primary fibroblast cell lines of IPF patients. Protein levels were assessed by Western blot. Representative patients (n = 3) and controls (n = 3) are shown. Relative intensity analysis of PTEN expression was measured by Prism 5. β-Actin was used as a loading control. Relative differences were assessed by fold-change of target protein/β-actin compared with normal control #1. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments. Error bars indicate mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001