64 Chapter 3 higher mass spectrometry counts of COL14 in IPF lungs compared to non-IPF lungs [11] suggests that such an absolute increase is likely, being cons 297 istent with the RNA findings in myofibroblasts in our current study. How COL14 is involved in the regulation of human lung ECM structure and how changes in its proportional expression influence fibrotic responses in IPF is currently Figure 3: Percentage area stained positive for COL14A1 in: A) whole lung tissue, B) lung parenchyma, C) airway wall, D) bronchial epithelium. For panels A and B, each data point represents individual donors; data were tested using Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test for panels. N=9 for never smoker and ex-smoker groups, n=12 for IPF. For panels C and D, each data point represents individual airway wall or bronchial epithelial region within airways (n = 1-7 regions per donor); data were tested using mixed-model analysis to account for multiple airways per donor. N=9 for never smoker and ex-smoker groups, n=12 for IPF. IPF: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
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