Fig. 5.

Dust extract (DE) stimulates amphiregulin (AREG) mRNA and immune modulator release in primary fibroblasts in culture. Primary murine lung fibroblasts (MLF) and human lung fibroblasts (HLF) were treated with 5% DE or medium alone (control) for 2–24 h. Murine (A) and human (C) AREG gene expression were measured by quantitative real-time PCR in lysates at 2, 6, and 24 h. Fold change in AREG message normalized to ribosomal compared with corresponding control time is shown. Three independent experiments were performed for MLF and HLF using different cell isolates. Boxplots for AREG message indicate medians and quartiles for 12 technical replicates for each condition. Inflammatory mediators murine AREG, IL-6, and CXCL1 (B) and human AREG, IL-6, and IL-8 (D) were measured in supernates at indicated time points. Data shown are means ± SE for four independent experiments (n = 24 technical replicates per condition for B and D). *P < 0.05, #P < 0.01, §P < 0.001 vs. control at corresponding time points, by ANOVA.