Figure 3.

(A) Normal human bronchial epithelial cells were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) against cystatin A or SPINK5 or with control siRNA for 48 hours. The mRNA expression of the target molecules was examined with quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Data are expressed as a percentage of mock-transfected cells without siRNA, for which expression was set as 100%. **P < 0.01 versus control siRNA; n = 4. (B and C) Transfected normal human bronchial epithelial cells were stimulated with medium alone (control), house dust mite (100 μg/ml), Alternaria (400 μg/ml), protease from Staphylococcus aureus (1 μg/ml), trypsin (100 nM), papain (1 μM), or Poly(I:C) (10 μg/ml) for 2 hours (for IL-33) or 24 hours (for thymic stromal lymphopoietin or IL-25). *P < 0.05 versus no siRNA; n = 5. HDM = house dust mite; S.A. = Staphylococcus aureus; TSLP = thymic stromal lymphopoietin.