Figure 3.

Effect of pollen diffusates on intercellular junction integrity. Calu-3 cells were exposed to pollen diffusates from Chenopodium album (0.26 ± 0.06 mg/ml), Plantago lanceolata (0.18 ± 0.03 mg/ml) and Eucalyptus globulus (0.75 ± 0.18 mg/ml) (black bars) for 6 h. The cells were also incubated with pollen diffusates that were pre-treated with 1 mM AEBSF (white bars). The degradation of the transmembrane proteins E-cadherin (A) claudin-1 (B) occludin (C) and the cytosolic complex ZO-1 (D) was analyzed by immunoblotting. Cells incubated with culture medium were used as a control. The data were normalized and expressed as a percentage relative to each control. Representative blots are shown for each stimulus. Bonferroni post-test: *** p < 0.001 (n = 5) in comparison to the control condition, and ^### p < 0.001; ^## p < 0.01 (n = 5) for comparisons between treated and untreated conditions.