Figure 2

Chol-HCQ inhibits the lung fibroblast proliferation via NF-κB and ERK pathways. The lung fibroblasts were obtained from bleomycin-treated rats as described and the cells were seeded in a 96-well plate. The cells were treated with Chol-HCQ (0-100μΜ) for 24 hours and tested by (a) MTT or (b) by the percentages of EdU-stained lung fibroblasts. (c and d) For the apoptosis analysis, lung fibroblasts were treated with Chol-HCQ for 48 hours followed by Annexin V/PI staining and examined by FACS analysis. Similar results were obtained in three separate experiments. (e–h) Chol-HCQ inhibits ERK1/2 and NF-κB phosphorylation in lung fibroblasts. Chol-HCQ decreases ERK1/2 phosphorylation dose-dependently at Thr202/Tyr204 and NF-κB phosphorylation. The data are representative of three separate experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001.