Fig 2: Activation of Nrf2 antioxidant pathway alleviated TGF-ß1-induced EMT in RLE-6TN and A549.SFN was pre-treated in RLE-6TN (a) and A549 (b) for 24 h before stimulated with TGF-ß1. After TGF-ß1 stimulating for 24 h, all cell protein were collected and the expressions of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, Numb, a-SMA and E-cad were detected by Western blot. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 3 per group), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with vehicle group; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 compared with TGF-ß1 group

Fig 3: TGF-ß1 induced Numb expression in RLE-6TN and A549.a RLE-6TN cells were stimulated by TGF-ß1 (0-20 ng/ml) for 24 h, then collecting cell total proteins for Western Blot analysis. b RLE-6TN cells were treated with 5 ng/ml TGF-ß1 for different time points (0–48 h). ß-actin was used as an internal reference for relative quantification. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 3 per group), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with vehicle group. Numb siRNA was transfected in RLE-6TN (c) and A549 (d) before stimulated with TGF-ß1 for 24 h, then cell proteins were collected and the expressions of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, Numb, a-SMA and E-cad were detected by Western blot. The representative bands were obtained from different gels for repeated experiments. After densitometric analysis, ß-actin was used as an internal reference for relative quantification. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 3 per group), *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01 compared with vehicle group; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 compared with TGF-ß1 group

Fig 4: The expression of Nrf2 antioxidant pathway, Numb and EMT in BLM-induced PF.Right lung tissues of mouse were subjected to Western blot analysis for Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, Numb, a-SMA and E-cad. The representative bands were obtained from different gels for repeated experiments. After densitometric analysis, ß-actin was used as an internal reference for relative quantification. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 3 per group), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with WT saline group; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 compared with Nrf2-/- saline group; +P < 0.05, ++P < 0.01 compared with WT BLM group