Fig. 1
Schematic diagram of the experimental protocol. Mice were sensitized at day 1 and 14, and challenged with OVA or saline at day 24, 25 and 26. Equal number of mice were exposed to 1.0 ppm O3 or filtered air for 3 h on day 23, 25 and 27. In a separate experiment, same number of O3-exposed asthmatic mice were injected through tail vein with SB239063 (4 mg/kg, diluted with DMSO) prior to each O3 exposure, or orally fed by gavage with α-tocopherol (15 IU/kg, diluted in 50% ethanol) for 10 consecutive days (from day 18 to day 27), or received them both. On day 28, measurements were performed including enhanced pause (Penh), airway resistance (Raw), lung compliance (CL), cell counts and cytokines in the BALF, mRNA expression of cytokines in the lung tissues, histological evaluation, p38 MAPK-HSP27 signaling by immunoblotting, and oxidative stress