Proliferation and apoptosis in the lungs of AMD3100-treated SU5416/chronic hypoxia (SuHx) animals.
(A) Representative Western blot for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cleaved caspase-3 in the lung tissue protein lysate of naïve control animals (n = 3), SuHx + vehicle (n = 6) and SuHx + AMD3100 treated rats (n = 6). β-actin was used as loading control. (B-C) Densitometric analysis indicates increased PCNA (B) and cleaved caspase-3 (C) protein levels in the lungs of SuHx + vehicle animals vs. controls, and that AMD3100 treatment significantly reduced PCNA and cleaved caspase-3 protein levels in the lungs of SuHx animals. Densitometric values were normalized vs. β-actin and expressed as n-fold of naïve controls. n = 3 animals per group for controls and n = 6 animals per group for SuHx + vehicle and SuHx + AMD3100 groups. * P<0.05 and ** P<0.01.