Fig. 1

Fibroblasts have increased αSMA expression in IPF and hypoxia exposure. Representative western blots of αSMA (a) after 48 h of exposure to hypoxia (1% O2). β-actin was used as a loading control. b Each bar represents the mean ± SD of the 4 fibroblast lines for each group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 two-tailed Student’s t-test. Gene expression of αSMA (c) at basal (0 h) versus 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of exposure to hypoxia (1% O2) of the two fibroblast lines. The results are expressed in arbitrary units. Representative immunocytochemistry of normal fibroblast lines after 48 h of exposure to hypoxia (d)