Fig. 1

LPS treatment of HLMECs induces EndoMT. (A) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 96 h, and subsequently the morphology of cells was observed under a microscope. Magnification, × 100; scale bar, 50 μm. (B) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 48 h, and a Transwell migration assay was used to examine cell invasion. Magnification, × 100; scale bar, 50 μm. (C) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 24 h, and a wound-healing assay was used to assess cell migration. Magnification, × 100; scale bar, 50 μm. (D) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 96 h, and fluorescence microscopy was used to visualize CD31 and α-SMA expression. Magnification, × 200; scale bar, 20 μm. (E) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 96 h, and the protein expression of CD31 and α-SMA was examined using western blotting. β-Actin was used as the loading control. (F) HLMECs were induced with 20 µg/ml LPS for 96 h, and the mRNA expression levels of the CD31 and α-SMA genes were examined. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of three repeats. ^*P < 0.05 vs. control. HLMEC, Human lung microvascular endothelial cell; EndoMT, endothelial-mesenchymal transition