Figure 4.

HRV infection induced mucus hypersecretion and goblet cell hyperplasia. (A) Cytospin slides at 24 hpi were stained for MUC5AC (red) to visualize mucus secretion. Representative images were recorded using Leica DM5500 (magnification 20x), scale bar 200 μm. (B) Quantification of Muc5Ac⁺ positive cells was performed for each condition at 24 hpi. Muc5Ac⁺ cells were counted in 10 different fields on each slide. Values are presented as mean ± SD, n = 6 per group, **P < 0.01 healthy vs. COPD, ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 mock vs. HRV infection. Transwells were (C) stained for MUC5AC (green) at 24 hpi (magnification 40x), scale bar 100 μm to determine goblet cell hyperplasia. (D) Quantification of Muc5Ac⁺ positive cells was performed for each condition at 24 hpi. Values are means ± SD, n = 6 per group, **P < 0.01 healthy vs. COPD, ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 mock vs. HRV infection.