Figure 3

Altered mRNA expression of TGF-β signaling molecules by peripheral CD4+ T cells in patients with COPD.
Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of circulating CD4+ T cells from healthy control subjects (HC, n = 10), healthy smokers (HS, n = 10) and COPD patients (n = 10) were performed to measure the mRNA levels of (a) TGF-β1, (b) TGF-β1 RI, (c) TGF-β1 RII, (d) BAMBI, (e) Smad 2, (f) Smad 3, (g) Smad 4, (h) Smad 6 and (i) Smad 7. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM; a value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.