Figure 7.

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and murine lung injury-BAL fluid induces expression of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-dependent profibrotic genes in lung fibroblasts, which is attenuated in the absence of protein tyrosine phosphatase-α (PTPα). BAL fluid collected from patients with ARDS or normal human controls was used to stimulate cultured normal human lung fibroblasts (NHLFs). After 24 h, cells were harvested for qPCR expression of COL1A1 (A) and SERPINE1 (B). BAL fluid from Ptpra^wt/wt and Ptpra^−/− mice treated for 48 h with HCl or saline was used to stimulate cultured NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. After 6 h, cells were harvested for qPCR expression of Ctgf (C) and Acta2 (D). Right-skewed variables were natural-log transformed prior to analysis for significance. Each symbol represents an individual patient (n = 14 ARDS patients, 4 controls) or experimental animal (n = 4–8 mice/group), and horizontal lines represent geometric mean and 95% confidence interval (CI). *P ≤ 0.05; t test between specific treatment combinations.