Fig. 2: CCL20 is secreted by AEC2s in PF tissues.

a Ccl20 expression in hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells from the lung tissues of PBS- or BLM-challenged mice (n = 4 samples per group). b Ccl20 expression in epithelial cells, fibroblasts and endothelial cells in lung tissues from PBS- or BLM-challenged mice (n = 3 samples per group). c Ccl20 expression in alveolar epithelial cells from PBS- or BLM-challenged mice. The data were obtained from an open-source dataset (GSE109913) (n = 3 samples per group). d Ccl20 expression in MLE-12 cells following treatment with different doses of BLM (n = 3 technical replicates per group). Ccl20 expression in AECs treated with TGF-β (e) or BLM (f) (n = 3 technical replicates per group). g IF staining for SFTPC and CCL20 in lung tissues from BLM-induced PF mice and controls. Scale bars, 25 μm. h Schematic of the method for generating Ccl20 conditional knockout mice. i Scheme for generating mice with Ccl20 genetically deficient in AEC2s. j Masson staining of lung tissues from the indicated mice. Scale bar, 100 μm. k Hydroxyproline content in lung tissues from the indicated mice (n = 7 per group). l Expression of fibrosis-related genes in lung tissues from the indicated mice (n = 5 samples per group). m IHC staining of α-SMA and collagen in lung tissues from the indicated mice. Scale bar, 50 μm. The data are presented as the means ± SEM. The data in a–c, e, f were analyzed by two-tailed Student’s t-test. The data in d, k were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.