Figure 5.

Chitinase 3-like-1/BRP-39 deficiency does not affect production of mucins but decreases lung edema during fungal asthma. Balb/c wild-type (WT) and BRP-39-deficient (Chi3l1^−/−) mice were chronically exposed to A. fumigatus as described in the materials and methods. A: representative periodic acid-Schiff-stained lung sections from naïve and asthmatic WT and Chi3l1^−/− mice. Original magnification ×10. Bar = 1 mm. B and C: twenty-four hours after the last challenge, the left lungs were collected and Muc5ac (B) and Gob5 (C) gene expression was quantified by real-time PCR and normalized to HPRT. Data are expressed as 2^−ΔΔCt. The figure illustrates cumulative data from two independent studies (n = 2–3 mice per group per study for naïve mice and n = 5 mice per group per study for asthmatic mice). Each dot presents a single mouse. The middle line represents the mean. D: twenty-four hours after the last challenge, lungs were harvested, weighed, dried for 24 h, and then reweighed. Data are expressed as wet weight/dry weight. The figure illustrates cumulative data from two independent studies (n = 2 or 3 mice per group per study for naïve mice and n = 5 mice per group per study for asthmatic mice). Each dot presents a single mouse. The middle line represents the mean. *P value < 0.05; **P value < 0.01 (two-tailed Student’s t test).