Figure 3.

The effects of altered miR-221 expression on apoptosis in LPS-induced ALI mice. Mice were injected intravenously (tail vein) with agomir-221, antagomir-221, control antagomir or control agomir (2 mg/kg) at 24 h prior to 2 mg/kg LPS treatment. The mice were sacrificed after LPS administration for 24 h and then lung tissues were collected for analysis. (a) Apoptotic cells in the tissues were observed using TUNEL assay at ×400 magnification (n = 6/group). (b) The quantity of TUNEL-positive cells was elevated in ALI mice (n = 6/group). Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. control group. ##p < 0.01 vs. LPS alone group.