Figure 8

Inhibition of autophagy and airway fibrosis by astragalin in OVA-challenged mouse airways (A) and autophagy-induced airway fibrosis in H₂O₂-stimulated BEAS-2B cells (B). The induction of α-SMA and LC3A/B was evidenced by immunofluorescence analysis in OVA-challenged mouse lung tissues (A). LC3A/B identified as green staining was visualized with a FITC-conjugated secondary antibody and α-SMA indentified as red staining visualized with a Cy3-conjugated secondary antibody. Nuclear staining was done with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Each photograph is representative of four mice. Magnification: 200-fold. After culturing cells with 20 μM H₂O₂ and/or 10 μM spermidine for 72 h, cell lysates were subject to Western bolt analysis with a primary antibody against beclin-1, E-cadherin and vimentin (B). β-actin protein was used as an internal control. The bar graphs (mean ± SEM, n = 3) in the bottom panel represent quantitative results of blots obtained from a densitometer. Means without a common letter differ, P < 0.05.