Fig. 4.

Integrin αvβ6 mediated P. aeruginosa’s LPS-induced EMT in BEAS-2B cells via TGF-β1-Smad2/3 signaling pathway. BEAS-2B cells were pretreated with integrin αvβ6–blocking antibody 10D5 (30 μg/mL) or TGF-β1 inhibitor, SB431542 (10 μM), for 2 h prior to incubation with 2 μg/mL P. aeruginosa’s LPS for 72 h. Total-Smad2/3 and p-Smad2/3 were detected using Western blotting (a). The secretion of active TGF-β1 in the culture medium was measured by ELISA (b). The results showed that the phosphorylation of Smad2/3 was increased by P. aeruginosa’s LPS, which were ameliorated by integrin αvβ6–blocking antibody 10D5 as well as SB431542. In addition, elevated secretion of active TGF-β1 was induced by P. aeruginosa’s LPS, which could be inhibited by integrin αvβ6–blocking antibody 10D5. The data represent the mean ± SEM, n = 3. *p < 0.05 versus Con, #p < 0.05 versus LPS