Figure 4

TGF-β1, but not IL-22, increases the mRNA expression of mesenchymal genes in 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 vimentin (A) and N-cadherin (B) mRNA expression. Expression levels are relative to GAPDH expression. n=4-5 per group, *p<0.05 vs. control unstimulated cells, †p<0.05 vs. IL-22 stimulated cells.