Fig. 3
Methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction in long-term cultured human PCLS. PCLS with intact airways and surrounding epithelium were used to measure methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction at different time points. Different concentrations of methacholine (10−9 to 10−3 M) were added to the slice and slice constriction was recorded by a stereo microscope (a). Images were analyzed by the ImageJ analysis program. The first control picture of the non-constricted airway was set to 100%. The methacholine-induced reduction of the airway area was related to the 100% airway area of the initial airway (b). Measurements were conducted in at least duplicate. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, n = 3. Mch = methacholine, %-IAA = percentage of initial airway area, EC50 = half maximal effective concentration