Fig. 5.

EcoHIV infection enhances cigarette smoke-induced fibrosis and apoptosis. A/J mice were inoculated one time with EcoHIV or PBS and exposed to 2 mo of cigarette smoke. A and B: representative images (A) and scoring of terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) analysis (B) was performed on lung tissue from each mouse group. C and D: lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release (C)- and caspase-3 cleavage (D)-determined enhanced activation of caspase-3 coincided with higher cell death in lungs of mice infected with EcoHIV and smoke exposed. Representative blots are shown here with 2 individual mice/group. Densitometry was performed on immunoblots. Graph is represented as DU of pixel intensity expressed as a ratio to total caspase-3. Graphs are represented as means ± SE of 3 separate measurements on independent days. *P < 0.05 when comparing both treatments connected by a line, determined by 2-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test; n ≥ 6/group.