Fig. 5.

Effects of dust extracellular vesicles (EVs) on inflammatory mediator protein levels in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE), A549 alveolar epithelial cells, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). NHBE (A–D) and A549 (E–H) cells were untreated (C) or treated with medium containing different concentrations of EVs (μg/mL protein) for 5 h and the levels of proIL-1β, ICAM-1, and actin in cell lysates, and the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in cell medium were determined. Representative Western blots with noncontiguous lanes demarcated by broken lines are shown. HUVEC were untreated (C) or treated with medium containing different concentrations of EVs for 5 h (I and J) and 24 h (K and L), and the levels of IL-8 and IL-6 in cell medium were determined. All data shown are means ± SD/SE (n = 4 for NHBE cells, n = 2 for A549, n = 3 for HUVEC). *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 according to one-way ANOVA using Tukey’s multiple-comparison test.