Figure 5
Mice immunized against mIS200 peptide are protected against bleomycin-induced dermal fibrosis. (A) Reduced dermal fibrosis in mice immunized against mIS200 peptide injected with bleomycin. Representative hematoxylin and eosin-stained skin sections are shown. (B) Decreased dermal thickness in mice immunized against mIS200 peptide treated with bleomycin (change by median(Q1,Q3) 1.21.1,1.4 versus 1.41.3,1.6 fold, P = 0.02). (C) Reduced accumulation of collagen in mice immunized against mIS200 peptide challenged with bleomycin. Collagen fiber visualization by trichrome-staining skin sections is shown. (D) Reduced hydroxyprolin content in mice immunized against mIS200 peptide following bleomycin treatment (change by median(Q1,Q3) 1.00.9,1.2 versus 1.41.1,1.6 fold, P = 0.005). (E) Lower myofibroblast counts in mice immunized against mIS200 peptide following bleomycin treatment (change by median(Q1,Q3) 1.71.2,2.2 versus 2.41.7,3.6 fold, P = 0.01). Control mice were injected with NaCl, and the value for these mice was defined as 1; the results from the other groups were normalized to this value. Bars represent median(Q1,Q3); 36 mice were used for these experiments (nine in the group keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) NaCl, 16 in the group mIS200 bleomycin, and 11 in the group KLH bleomycin).