Inhibition of EGFR signaling prevents WCS induced loss of ciliated cells.

(A–F), Representative confocal micrographs of differentiated human airway epithelial cells treated with Air (A, D), Smoke (B, E) or Smoke + 500 nM Gefitinib (C, F) stained for FoxJ1 (green), acetylated-tubulin (white) or nuclei (blue) (A, B, C). D, E and F represent the same microscopic fields as A, B and C, respectively showing only the FoxJ1 and nuclear staining. Scale bar = 25 μm G, Quantification of the percent FoxJ1 positive cells relative to the Air treated samples. N = 7 air and smoke, N = 5 smoke + Gefitinib; * P<0.05, one way ANOVA.