Fig. 2.

YX-2102 can protect against BLM-induced PF in vivo. Rats were intratracheally treated with 5 mg/kg BLM once at day 0, followed by YX-2102 or vehicle treatment via intraperitoneal injection at 25 mg/kg daily. A H&E staining of representative lung sections of the sham, YX-2102, BLM and BLM + YX-2102 groups at day 21. B Quantification of pulmonary fibrosis using the Szapiel score. C Lung coefficient index. D Micro-CT scan images of rats (in vivo) at 21 days after exposure. E Representative images of Masson’s trichrome staining of rat lungs at day 21. F The Hyp level of the pulmonary tissues. G Representative immunofluorescence staining images showing the expression of fibronectin, α-SMA and E-cadherin in rat lungs. H Western blotting showing the expression of fibronectin, α-SMA and E-cadherin in rat lungs. Histograms of protein ratios were normalized to a marker protein—the cellular skeletal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH, n = 3). I–K TGF-β1, the major pro-fibrotic factor, as identified by immunohistochemical assay (I) and quantitative RT-PCR (J) in lung tissues and ELISA (K) in rat serum at day 21. Scale bar is indicated in the figure. Data were expressed as mean ± SEM, n = 5, ^****P < 0.0001 versus Sham groups, ^#P < 0.05, ^###P < 0.001, ^####<0.0001 versus BLM group