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. 2019 Jan 15;199(2):171–180. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201802-0245OC

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Alterations of the mucin network following treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sputum. The same patient sputum was treated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or P3001 for 30 minutes at 37°C and analyzed to compare the structural changes of the mucin network. (A) Breakdown of multimeric MUC5B was assessed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Increasing concentration of NAC (0.2–200 mM) and P3001 (0.2–20 mM) were tested. (B) Effect of 20 mM NAC and P3001 on sputum elastic modulus (G′) as measured by a cone-and-plate rheometer and compared with PBS. **P < 0.01. n = 3 repeats per condition. (C) Effect of 20 mM NAC and P3001 on the mucin network topology as examined by immunocytochemistry and compared with PBS. Confocal images captured the disruption of MUC5AC (red) and MUC5B (green) threads as a result of sputum reduction. Nuclei are shown in blue (DAPI). Scale bar, 100 μm. PBS = phosphate-buffered saline.