Fig. 2. Polarized human macrophage-dependent remodeling of basement membrane explants.
a Transcript expression of immune response genes as analyzed by qPCR in human macrophages polarized with LPS (1 µg/mL) or recombinant human IL-4 (20 ng/mL). Results are expressed as mean fold-change relative to control ± SEM (n = 3 independent exps). b Basement membrane laminin immunofluorescence following a 6 d culture with control, LPS- (1 µg/mL) or recombinant IL-4- (20 ng/mL) treated macrophages. Images shown are representative of three independent experiments. c Quantification of basement membrane perforation size or area degraded as analyzed by ImageJ pixel analysis of each condition in b. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 3 independent exps) with significance determined by two-tailed t test. d Scanning electron micrograph of basement membrane stripped of cells either after culture with medium alone or with LPS-polarized human macrophages (MØh) for 6 days. Results representative of two independent experiments performed. e Quantification of soluble type IV collagen detected in cell-free media on day 3. Results are expressed as mean of two independent experiments performed. f Normalized fluorescence intensity profiles of laminin (red) across non-degraded (gray lines) versus degraded basement membrane perforations (orange lines) in explants cultured with control, LPS-, or IL-4-treated macrophages for 6 days. Results representative of four independent experiments. Bars: (b–d, f) 10 µm. Source data are provided as a Source data file.