Fig. 5.

Histopathological analysis of compound K in hairless mice with DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis-like model. Tissues were excised, fixed in 10% formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and sectioned. (A) The sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) (magnification, x 100). (B) Epidermal thickness. (C) Immunohistochemistry of KLK5 and DSC1 expression (magnification × 100). (D) Changed protein levels of SPINK5, KLK5 and PAR2 were assayed by Western blot analysis. The results are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 7). *p < 0.05 vs. CON; #p < 0.05 vs. the DNCB-induced group. CON: control group, DNCB: DNCB-induced group, DNCB-CK: DNCB-induced and 0.3% CK-treated group, KLK5: kallikrein 5, DSC1: desmocollin 1, SPINK5: serine protease inhibitor Kazal type-5, PAR2: protease activated receptor 2.