Figure 5.

Tracheal ring hyperresponsiveness to methacholine after 30-min sHA exposure. Isolated tracheal rings were bathed in Krebs solution with or without sHA for 30 min and then assayed for their contractile response to methacholine. A, TSG-6–sufficient tracheal rings demonstrate increased contractile response to methacholine after sHA exposure compared with PBS, whereas TSG-6–deficient tracheal rings do not increase their contractile response. B, in TSG-6–deficient tracheal rings, the addition of exogenous TSG-6 together with sHA for 30 min increases the contractile response to levels similar to TSG-6 genetically sufficient tracheal rings. PBS was used as vehicle. Results are represented as means ± S.E. (error bars). The experiment was repeated at least three times. n = 8/group. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01, ANOVA with Tukey's multiple-comparison correction.