Figure 5

IL-22 cooperates with TGF-β1 in reducing E-cadherin protein expression in asthmatic primary bronchial epithelial cells. Primary bronchial epithelial cells were obtained from healthy controls, mild asthmatics and severe asthmatics, grown to confluence, serum starved overnight and stimulated with IL-22, TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL each) or both cytokines for 5 days before evaluating (A) E-cadherin and N-cadherin protein expression by Western blot. (B, C) Quantification of E-cadherin and N-cadherin expression levels is shown relative to GAPDH expression. n=4-5 per group, *p<0.05 vs. control unstimulated cells, †p<0.05 vs. IL-22 stimulated cells, §p=0.08 vs. TGF-β1 stimulated cells.