Figure 6.

Levels of growth factor and procollagen mRNAs in the lungs of rats exposed to SWCNT, CB, or V₂O₅. Whole lung RNA was extracted as described in Methods and mRNA expression measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. V₂O₅ was used as a positive control for inducing mRNA levels of profibrogenic mediators. (A) 1 day post-exposure. (B) 21 days post-exposure. Control animals were treated with vehicle alone (PBS with 0.1% Pluronic F-68). Data are presented as mean values ± SEM from three to five animals per group and expressed as the fold-change in mRNA relative to an 18S rRNA housekeeping gene. *P < 0.05 significantly increased or †P < 0.05 significantly decreased compared to control.