Figure 6.

Acute exposure to inhaled e‐cig aerosols containing PG with or without nicotine leads to dysregulated ECM proteins in mouse lungs. The protein abundances of ECM‐related markers were measured in lung homogenates using western blotting. Representative blots for fibronectin, alpha smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), Type I collagen (COL1A1), MMP9, and MMP2 levels in air, PG and PG with nicotine exposed (A) male and (B) female mice are shown. (C) The band intensity was measured by densitometry and data are shown as fold change relative to air group control; β‐actin was used as a loading control. Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 6/group; equal number of male and female mice were used; n = 3 for male and female groups respectively; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, significant compared with air‐exposed control; ^# P < 0.05, significant compared with PG exposed group)