Fig. 3.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is responsible for compressed human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cell-induced airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction. A: conditioned media from compressed HBE cells (30 cmH₂O) significantly increased human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cell proliferation (n = 4, *P < 0.05 vs. vehicle medium). Pretreatment with PD-145065 did not affect HASM cell proliferation in any given condition. The average number of cells counted for each condition was ~3,400, and 4 donors were used. B and C: pretreatment of HASM cells with PD-145065 (10 nM) inhibited increased HASM cell traction mediated by conditioned media from compressed HBE cells (n = 4, *P < 0.05 vs. 0 cmH₂O; B) and inhibited subsequent contractile response (10 μM) of HASM cells to histamine (n = 4, *P < 0.05 vs. 0 cmH₂O; C).