Figure 5.

Knockdown of CXCR4 expression reduces the effect of G-CSF-pretreated BM-MSCs on inhibiting pulmonary fibrosis. C57BL/6 mice were given BLM on day 0, and BM-MSCs (1 × 10⁶ cells) were injected into the tail vein on day 14. Mice were sacrificed on day 21, and lung tissues were obtained for analysis (a–e). (a) Pathological lung sections were examined using H&E staining (upper row) and Masson trichrome staining (lower row) (section thickness = 3–4 μm; scale bar = 100 μm, ×100). (b) The protein levels of α-SMA and ProSP-C in lung tissue were determined by Western blot. (c) Collagen content was estimated by hydroxyproline assay. The mRNA expression of collagen I (d) and collagen III (e) was determined by real-time PCR. G-CSF>BM-MSCs represented BM-MSCs pretreated with G-CSF (30 ng/mL). n = 3–6, ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01. Bars: mean ± SD.