Figure 4.

Increased Susceptibility of Adamts18^−/− Mice to Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Acute Lung Injury

(A) Representative images of H&E-stained lung sections of saline-treated (left panels) or LPS-treated (right panels) mice. Scale bar, 50 μm.

(B) Pathological grade of lung injury (n = 5/group).

(C) Total number of cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collected 24 h after LPS treatment. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3/group, ∗p < 0.05, Student's t test).

(D) Diff-quick staining of BALF cells for quantification of neutrophils (% polymorphonuclear neutrophil). N, neutrophil, E, eosinophil, M, monocyte. Scale bar, 50 μm. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3/group, ∗p < 0.05, Student's t test).

(E) Immunostaining of CD11b⁺ neutrophils in lung sections of LPS-treated mice. Quantification of CD11b⁺ cells in each microscopic field was performed with ImageJ. Each lung section was analyzed for 5 fields. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (N = 5/group, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, Student's t test). Scale bar, 50 μm.

(F) IL-6 expression in lung tissues of saline- or LPS-treated mice was analyzed by ELISA. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 5/group, ∗p < 0.05, Student's t test).

(G) Confocal microscopy of Cit-H3⁺MPO⁺ neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in mouse lung sections. Scale bar, 100 μm.

(H) Relative mRNA levels of Adamts18 at different time points of LPS-treated Adamts18^+/+ mice determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (n = 3/time point). The quantity of Adamts18 mRNA was normalized to that of the housekeeping gene Gapdh using the ΔΔCt method. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.

See also Table S4.