Epithelial cell PGE₂ production is COX-2 dependent and is reversed by a PGE₂ neutralizing antibody.

<p>(A) Conditioned medium was collected from SAECs treated with or without 70nM SC-58125 for 24 hours. HLFs were treated with 5ng/ml TGF-β either in the presence or absence of SC58125 alone, or in the presence of SAEC conditioned medium from control or SC58125-treated SAECs. α−SMA protein expression was analyzed after 48 hours by western blot and densitometric analysis. (B) Conditioned medium from SAECs was neutralized by addition of 10μg/ml of anti- PGE₂ antibody, 2B5. HLFs were treated with 5 ng/ml TGF-β in either fresh SAGM, SAEC conditioned medium, or PGE₂ neutralized SAEC conditioned medium for 48 hours. α-SMA protein expression was analyzed by western blot. A representative blot from multiple independent experiments is shown. Samples were resolved on the same gel, and intervening irrelevant lanes are not shown. Note that, Neut. Ab– 2B5, PGE₂ neutralizing antibody, CTRL Ab–control antibody, n.s.–not significant. Data shown are mean ± SEM for n = 3 replicates. *** = p<0.001 by ANOVA.