Correlations between lung function and miR-503 expression in control and COPD lung fibroblasts cultured with or without IL-1ß and TNF-α.

<p>Control (n = 19) and COPD (n = 18) lung fibroblasts were cultured with 10% FCS containing DMEM for 2 days, after which the medium was changed to DMEM in the absence (baseline) or presence of IL-1ß/TNF-α (1 ng/ml). After 1 day, total RNA was extracted from the cultured cells. Correlation between miR-503 expression in lung fibroblasts and %FVC (Control (n = 6) and COPD (n = 17)) ((A) baseline, (B) IL-1ß/TNF-α), þV1 (Control (n = 6) and COPD (n = 18)) ((C) baseline, (D) IL-1ß/TNF-α), % DLco (Control (n = 5) and COPD (n = 14)) ((E) baseline, (F) IL-1ß/TNF-α) were shown. White square: control, Black triangle: COPD. Horizontal axis: level of miR-503 expression, expressed as fold of 18s-rRNA values. The correlation was calculated by Spearman’s correlation test.