Journal: Molecular Medicine Reports

Article Title: Mechanotransducer Piezo1 drives ventilator-induced lung injury in lung epithelial cells via the calcineurin/NFATc3 pathway

doi: 10.3892/mmr.2026.13893

Figure Lengend Snippet: Piezo1 expression is upregulated in the lung epithelium during ventilator-induced lung injury. (A) Representative immunofluorescence images of lung sections from sham-operated control mice and mice subjected to 6 h of mechanical ventilation. Piezo1 protein (red) is constitutively expressed and colocalizes (yellow in merged panels) with the epithelial cell marker CK8 (green). Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 100 µm. (B) Representative images of immunohistochemical staining for Piezo1 expression in lung epithelium from sham-operated mice and mice subjected to 6 h of mechanical ventilation. Scale bar, 20 µm (original magnification, ×400). (C) Representative haematoxylin and eosin-stained lung sections from sham-operated and HTV-ventilated mice. Scale bar, 50 µm. (D) Quantitative lung injury score was determined based on histological evaluation of alveolar congestion, haemorrhage, leukocyte infiltration and alveolar wall thickness, each graded from 0 (normal) to 3 (severe). Data are presented as the median (interquartile range); n=6 mice/group and Pvalues were determined by Mann-Whitney U test. Lung injury was further evaluated on the basis of (E) protein concentration, (F) cell number in BALF and (G) wet/dry weight ratio. (H) MPO activity in lung tissue. Proinflammatory cytokines in BALF were evaluated using the following ELISA kits: (I) IL-6, (J) TNF-α and (K) IL-β. (E-K) Data are presented as the mean ± SD, n=6 mice/group. Pvalues were determined by Student's t-test. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; CK8, cytokeratin 8; HTV, high tidal volume; MPO, myeloperoxidase.

Article Snippet: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) detection kits (cat. no. A044-1-1) were obtained from Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute. calcineurin activity assay kits (cat. no. AB139461 ) were purchased from Abcam.

Techniques: Expressing, Immunofluorescence, Control, Marker, Immunohistochemical staining, Staining, MANN-WHITNEY, Protein Concentration, Activity Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Journal: Molecular Medicine Reports

Article Title: Mechanotransducer Piezo1 drives ventilator-induced lung injury in lung epithelial cells via the calcineurin/NFATc3 pathway

doi: 10.3892/mmr.2026.13893

Figure Lengend Snippet: Lung epithelial-specific Piezo1 deletion attenuates ventilator-induced lung injury. (A) Validation of Piezo1 knockout efficiency in the lung epithelium. Representative immunofluorescence images of lung sections from control and Piezo1 CKO mice showing the expression of the Piezo1 protein (red), the epithelial cell marker CK8 (green), and nuclei (DAPI, blue). Scale bar, 50 µm. (B) Representative haematoxylin and eosin-stained lung sections from control and Piezo1 CKO mice after 6 h of mechanical ventilation. Scale bar, 50 µm. (C) Quantitative histopathological lung injury score. Data are presented as the median (IQR); n=6/group. Data were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn's post hoc test. (D) Total protein concentration in BALF. (E) Total cell counts in the BALF. (F) Lung wet/dry weight ratio. (G) Lung MPO activity. BALF concentrations of the inflammatory cytokines (H) IL-6, (I) TNF-α and (J) IL-1β. (D-J) Data are presented as the mean ± SD, n=6 mice/group. Pvalues were determined by oneway ANOVA. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; CK8, cytokeratin 8; CKO, conditional; HTV, high tidal volume; MPO, myeloperoxidase.

Article Snippet: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) detection kits (cat. no. A044-1-1) were obtained from Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute. calcineurin activity assay kits (cat. no. AB139461 ) were purchased from Abcam.

Techniques: Biomarker Discovery, Knock-Out, Immunofluorescence, Control, Expressing, Marker, Staining, Protein Concentration, Activity Assay

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Microbiota – gut – brain axis modulation drives glioblastoma progression and therapy resistance

doi: 10.64898/2026.05.14.724808

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Fold change of fecal lipocalin levels measured at the end of the experiment relative to baseline. Data are presented as individual values with mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05; ##p < 0.01, Welch’s t-test. Hashtags indicate comparisons between Ctl vs DSS, Impl vs DSS Impl, and Stupp vs DSS Stupp groups. (B) Representative haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained colon sections from DSS-treated Impl (top) and Stupp (bottom) mice. Low-magnification images (×20) are shown on the left, and high-magnification views (×400) on the right. Yellow arrows indicate neutrophil infiltration, and the asterisk marks areas of epithelial erosion. (C) Histological inflammation scores of colon sections across experimental groups. Data are presented as individual values with mean ± SEM. ###p < 0.001; #p < 0.05, unpaired t-test. Hashtags indicate comparisons between Ctl vs DSS, Impl vs DSS Impl, and Stupp vs DSS Stupp groups. (D) Representative immunofluorescence images of colon sections stained for CD45 (red) to label leukocytes and MPO (green) to identify neutrophils Nuclei are counterstained with Hoechst (blue). Merged images are shown on the left and individual channels on the right. Scale bar = 100 µm. (E) Quantification of CD45⁺ (left plot) and MPO⁺ (right plot) cells in the colon. Data are presented as median ± min/max. ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05; ####p < 0.0001, Welch’s t-test. Hashtags indicate comparisons between Ctl vs DSS, Impl vs DSS Impl, and Stupp vs DSS Stupp groups. (F) Heatmap summarizing RNAscope-based expression analysis of immune-related transcripts, ( Il10 , Foxp3 , Nos2 , Il6 , Ifn-γ ) in colonic tissue across experimental groups. Median H-score values are indicated. (G) Spleen weight as a marker of systemic inflammation. Data are presented as individual values with mean ± SEM. ***p < 0.001; *p < 0.05, unpaired t-test; ##p < 0.01; #p < 0.05, Welch’s t-test. Hashtags indicate comparisons between Ctl vs DSS and Impl vs DSS Impl groups. (H) Plasma cytokine levels measured by ELISA in Ctl (left plot) and DSS-treated (right plot) groups. Data are presented as median ± min/max. *p < 0.05, unpaired t-test.

Article Snippet: For colon sections, two primary antibodies were used: CD45 (Abcam, #ab10558, 1:500) and MPO (Fisher Scientific, #RB373A1, 1:200).

Techniques: Staining, Immunofluorescence, RNAscope, Expressing, Marker, Clinical Proteomics, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay