Fig. 3

Down-regulated pulmonary miR-146a expression with increased NETs and apoptosis formation in DAH patients. a Representative H&E staining of lung tissues from a PTX and a DAH patient. Scale bar = 40 µm, magnification × 200. b Representative CitH3 IF staining (green) from a PTX and 3 DAH patients. Cell nuclei counterstained with Hoechst 33,258 (blue). Scale bar = 10 µm, magnification × 1000. c Left, representative TUNEL IF staining (green) from a PTX and a DAH patient. Cell nuclei counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar = 25 µm, magnification × 400. Right, quantification of TUNEL-positive cell numbers in lung tissues. d Expression levels of PAD4, miR-146a, TRAF-6, HMGB1, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-α and MX-1 in lung tissues from 3 PTX and 3 DAH patients. Values are mean ± SEM. Horizontal lines are mean values. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001