Figure 8.

Uptake of nanobeads by airway M cells cultured under ALI conditions. (A) Tracheal epithelial cells were cultured with 5 μg/mL GST–RANKL for 6 days under ALI conditions. On the sixth day, culture medium containing 20-nm fluorescent nanobeads was added to the upper chamber. One hour later, the culture medium for the cells was changed to fresh complete medium, followed by additional culture for 1 h. After that, the cells were fixed and stained for Tnfaip2 and F-actin. Confocal fluorescence images of Tnfaip2 (green), F-actin (gray), and nanobeads (magenta) are shown. Bars: 20 μm. (B) Quantification of nanobeads in the Tnfaip2-positive cells. The percentage of beads-positive cells were measured. And Data expressed as mean ± standard deviation. **P < 0.01 (Student's t-test) Data were obtained from 4 areas of confocal 3D image from two independent experiments.