Figure 3: Vimentin is required for bleomycin-induced lung injury.

WT and Vim^−/− mice were treated with either bleomycin (0.07 U ml⁻¹, intratracheally) or saline and assessed on day 5. (a) Bleomycin-induced lung injury was assessed by histological examination of H&E staining of lung tissue (original magnification × 10; scale bar, 200 μm), (b) lung wet-to-dry weight ratio and (c) protein levels in BALF. Inflammasome activation was assessed by ELISA for levels of caspase-1 (d) and IL-1β (e) in BALF.Levels of IL-6 (f) and TGF-β1 (g) in BALF were assessed by ELISA. Inflammasome-independent cytokines MCP-1 (h) and TNF-α (i) were measured in WT and Vim^−/− mice. Images in a are representative of four to six animals per condition. Data in b–i are means±s.d. from two independent experiments n=4–6 animals per group. **P<0.001, ***P<0.0001, relative to WT versus Vim^−/−, by one-way analysis of variance with a correction provided by the Bonferroni multiple comparisons test.