Figure 2.

Versican levels in supernatants of cultured lung fibroblasts from patients with COPD (n=6) and without COPD (non-COPD; n=6).

Notes: Versican levels were determined in supernatants collected 24 hours after addition of the final siRNA treatment, on days 9, 16 and 23. Versican siRNA treatment suppressed versican levels in both COPD and non-COPD cell lines (P<0.05). (A) Untreated confluent cultures from COPD and non-COPD patients sampled on day 9 compared to versican siRNA-treated (COPD-T and non-COPD-T) cultures. Cultures were treated only once on day 8. (B) Untreated and treated COPD and non-COPD cultures treated twice on days 8 and 15 and sampled day 16. (C) Untreated and treated COPD and non-COPD cultures treated three times on days 8, 15 and 22 and sampled day 23.

Abbreviation: siRNA, small interfering RNA.