Figure 8.

Collagen deposition in lungs of ApoE^−/− mice fed WD and exposed to SHS only (WD + SHS), or treated with PMN targeted siRNA for MMP-9 (WD + SHS/Ly6G siRNA MMP-9). Picro-sirius red stained sections from ApoE^−/− mice were viewed under regular light (left panels) or polarized light (right panels). Representative images are shown (a). Differences in hue of Picro-sirius red stained airways were evaluated using ImageJ software. Results are expressed as mean red component intensities (airway) or mean total intensity (vasculature) (b). PMN targeted MMP-9 specific siRNA impacted collagen deposition. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test (airway, p > 0.001) or Student’s t-test (vasculature, p = 0.098) were used to assess statistical significance between groups as indicated by group normality, five mice per group were evaluated. * Significant difference detected.