SPDEF regulates goblet cell hyperplasia in the airway epithelium
J. Clin. Invest. Kwon-Sik Park, et al. 117:978 doi:10.1172/JCI29176 [Go to this article.]

Figure 6
Conditional expression of SPDEF in vivo. (A) Construct and strategy used to express SPDEF in Clara cells in the conducting airway. (B) RT-PCR using primers that selectively detect transgenic Spdef mRNA revealed that transgene-specific Spdef mRNA was increased in whole lung in the presence, but not the absence, of doxycycline (Dox). GAPDH expression was detected as an internal control. (C–H) In situ hybridization (C and D) and immunostaining (G and H) were performed to detect the expression of Spdef mRNA and protein in conducting airways and lung parenchyma in the absence (C, E, and G) and the presence (D, F, and H) of doxycycline. (E and F) Serial sections from C and D were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Spdef mRNA and protein were detected at the sites of goblet cell morphology in the conducting airways of CCSP-rtTA/TRE2-Spdef mice treated with doxycycline (arrows), but were not detected in the bronchiolar epithelium of the transgenic mice without doxycycline. Scale bars: 200 μm (C–F); 50 μm (G and H).