Attenuated asthmatic response in <i>PLCε</i>^ΔX/ΔX mice.

<p>(A) AHR to methacholine. AHR was assessed in OVA-sensitized <i>PLCε</i>^+/+ (<i>filled symbols</i>) and <i>PLCε</i>^ΔX/ΔX (<i>open symbols</i>) mice 1 day after the last challenge with the aerosol containing OVA (<i>squares</i>) or with vehicle alone (<i>circles</i>). Resistance is expressed as an increase over the baseline set at 1 cmH₂O/ml/s. Data are shown as the mean ± SD obtained with 3 or 4 mice of each group. *, p<0.05 between the OVA-challenged <i>PLCε</i>^+/+ and <i>PLCε</i>^ΔX/ΔX mice. (B) H&E staining of airway sections. Airway sections were prepared from the OVA-sensitized mice of the indicated <i>PLCε</i> genotype 1 day after the last challenge either with OVA-containing aerosol or with vehicle alone as indicated. <i>OVA enlarged</i> show the enlargement of the boxed areas in <i>OVA</i>. <i>Bars,</i> 100 µm. (C, D) Frequency of PAS⁺ cells. Airway sections prepared as in (B) were subjected to PAS staining to vitalize mucus-producing cells. Nuclei were counterstained with hematoxylin. Representative sections are shown in (D), where <i>OVA enlarged</i> show the enlargement of the boxed areas in <i>OVA</i> and asterisks denote PAS⁺ cells. PAS⁺ bronchial epithelial cells and total epithelial cells were counted on the specimens prepared from 3 or 5 mice of each group, and the percentage of PAS⁺ epithelial cells was determined as 100×(PAS⁺ cell number)/(total epithelial cell number) (%). Data in (C) are expressed as the mean ± SD. *, p<0.05 between the OVA-challenged two <i>PLCε</i> genotypes. <i>Bars in</i> (D), 100 µm.