Fig. 1

Intraluminal chloride modulates branching morphogenesis. Upper panel: a represents lung explants on day0 (D0) and day4 (D4) after intraluminal injection of distinct chloride concentrations ([Cl⁻]): 5.8, 29, 143, and 715 mM Cl⁻. b, c Morphometric analysis of b number of peripheral airway buds and c epithelial perimeter at the different [Cl⁻]. Lower panel: d represents the fetal lung explants after intraluminal injection of distinct Cl⁻ channels inhibitors: anthracene-9-carboxylic acid (A9C) to transmembrane protein 16A TMEM16A; cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator inhibitor172 (CFTRinh) to CFTR; and calcium-dependent Cl⁻ channel inhibitorA01 (CaCCinh) to CaCC. e, f Morphometric analysis of e number of peripheral airway buds and f epithelial perimeter. Lungs were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental groups (n ≥ 12 per condition). Results are expressed as the ratio of D4 and D0 (D4/D0) and presented as mean ± SD. Black rectangles define the control group. Scale bar, 1 mm. p < ^α0.0001, ^β0.001, ^γ0.01, ^µ0.05