Fig. 1

Role of AZI on airway epithelial barrier dysfunction in CSE-incubated PBECs. PBECs were pre-incubated with or without different concentrations of AZI (50, 5, 0.5 μM) for 1 h, and subsequently co-incubated with 3% CSE for 24 h. A, B The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the supernatant of PBECs were measured by ELISA. C The TEER was monitored for 24 h at specified time points in PBECs. D, E Flow cytometry assay was used to detect the apoptosis of PBECs. F, G, I Western blot was performed to examine the expressions of the indicated proteins in PBECs. H The distributions and expressions of ZO-1 and E-cadherin in PBECs were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The scale bar represents 20 μm. Data shown are means ± SD, n = 6, with 3 replicates for each sample. ^###P < 0.001 vs control group; ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 and ns means no significant difference vs CSE group