Fig. 6

mRNA expression of EMT markers in HBE cells after 3-day treatment with CM from HLF. HBE cells from non-COPD (N) or COPD patients (D) were stimulated with 100 % CM (black bars), or without CM (white bars) collected from human lung fibroblasts (HLF) derived from non-smokers (N) or COPD subjects (D) for 3 days and total RNA was extracted. The mRNA expression of EMT markers were determined by real-time RT-PCR and normalized to GAPDH mRNA expression in the same origin of HBE cells. (a) E-cadherin, (b) N-cadherin, (c) vimentin, and (d) the ratio of E-/N-cadherin were calculated. Data were analysed and expressed as mean (SE) of from six to nine independent experiments by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, compared between the indicated groups