Fig. 6: Mechanical strain-induced S100A7 increases innate immunity.

a Graph showing the levels of S100A7 mRNA (transcripts per million) in the epithelial cells of alveolus chips at different time points of culture, measured by RNA-seq. Data represent mean ± SD; n = 3 biological chip replicates; one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparisons test. b Graph showing the mRNA level of S100A7 in epithelial cells or in endothelial cells when cultured under 5% strain or under static conditions for 4 days (day 10–14) on-chip. Data are shown as mean ± SD; n = 3 biological chip replicates; unpaired two-tailed t-test. c Graph showing the protein levels of S100A7 in the apical washes of alveolus chips under strain or static condition, measure by ELISA. Data are shown as mean ± SEM; n = 5 biological chip replicates from 2 independent experiments; unpaired two-tailed t-test. d Graphs showing fold changes in mRNA levels of S100A7, IFNβ1, and IFNλ1 in epithelial cells of the alveolus chips that were transfected with human S100A7-expressing plasmid or the vector control (Con) for 48 h. Data are shown as mean ± SD; n = 4 biological chip replicates; unpaired two-tailed t-test. e Volcano plots of DEGs showing the effects of S100A7 overexpression on transcriptome in epithelial cells of the alveolus chips that were transfected with S100A7-expressing plasmid for 2 days with the empty plasmid as a control (Ctrl). P values were adjusted using Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. f Heat map showing that S100A7 upregulates the expression of many genes involved in innate immune response in epithelial cells of the alveolus chips. n = 3 biological chip replicates. Graphs showing the mRNA levels of S100A7 and CXCL10 in epithelial cells (g) and endothelial cells (h) and cytokine levels on chips cultured under static condition (0% strain), 5% strain, 10% strain, and 10% strain perfused with or without 1 µM TRPV4 inhibitor GSK2193874 for 48 h (i). Data in g–i represent mean ± SEM; n = 3 biological chip replicates; one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparisons correction. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.