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. 2019 May;189(5):999–1014. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2019.01.014

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Males (M) and females (F) differ in alveolar septation. A–H: Hematoxylin and eosin staining showing differences in secondary septa during lung development in males and females of the C57BL/6 strain. A–H: Room air (RA) males (A and E) show thinner secondary septa than RA females (C and G), whereas bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) males (B and F) show short and thick septa with club-shaped ends (arrowheads), compared with BPD females (D and H) with pointed tips (arrows). E–H: Higher magnification of the septa tips, indicated with arrows and arrowheads in A–D. Alveolar septation in lung alveogenesis is controlled by genes, such as platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGFA) and secreted phosphoprotein 1 (Spp1). Akt is considered to play a role in overall lung development. I–O: Real-time quantitative PCR showing expression of PGDF-A (I), along with Western blot analyses of PGDF-A (J), Spp1 (K), and Akt (L), with corresponding densitometric quantifications (M–O). PDGF-A, Spp1, and Akt are expressed more in females than in males in both RA and BPD groups. Vinculin is the loading control. n = 8 to 10 (A–D); n = 3 (J–L). ∗∗P < 0.01, ∗∗∗P < 0.001. Scale bars = 20 μm (A–H).