Figure 5: Epithelial and myeloid CFTR deficiency contribute to the inflammatory phenotype.

C57BL/6, Cftr^−/− and chimeric C57BL/6 and Cftr^−/− mice (10 per group) received 10 × 10⁶ viable bone marrow cells 4 weeks before the intranasal infection with A. fumigatus. Chimeric mice were evaluated 7 days after the infection for (a) lung histology (periodic acid–Schiff and, in the insets, Masson’s trichrome and TUNEL staining); (b) cytokines and IgE levels (mean values±s.d., ELISA on lung homogenates); (c) detection of c-Kit⁺FcɛR⁺ mast cells, CD90.2⁺CD25⁺ and CD90.2⁺ST2⁺ type 2 ILCs by flow cytometry (numbers refer to percentages of positive cells in the lung). Photographs were taken with a high-resolution microscope (Olympus DP71) equipped with a × 20 objective; scale bars, 200 μm and a × 40 objective (insets of panel a, scale bars, 100 μm). *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001, Cftr^−/− versus C57BL/6, chimeric C57BL/6 versus C57BL/6, chimeric Cftr^−/− versus Cftr^−/− mice, Two-way ANOVA, Bonferroni post test.