Figure 1

(A and B) Lung sections taken at time of tumor resection from nontumor regions of patients with moderate severity COPD were stained for SEMA3F or NRP 2 (A), or a combination of CD66b (green), NRP2 (red), and DAPI (blue) (B). Images taken at ×40 magnification. Scale bars: 100 μm in A, 20 μm in B. Human blood neutrophil SEMA3F protein expression following 4 hours culture ex vivo was assessed by Western blot (C), and fold change to unstimulated control was determined by densitometry normalized to P38 (D). The percentage of blood monocytes (CD66b^–, CD14/49D⁺) and neutrophils (CD66b⁺) expressing NRP1 and NRP2 was determined in freshly isolated cells (E) and following ex vivo culture for 4 hours by flow cytometry in control and stimulated conditions (F). Data are mean ± SEM, with individual data points (n = 3–5) from independent experiments. Human blood neutrophil NRP2 protein expression following 4 hours culture ex vivo was assessed by Western blot (G) and fold change to unstimulated control was determined by densitometry normalized to P38 (H). Statistical analysis: 1-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s post hoc tests (D and H) and 2-way ANOVA and Sidak’s post hoc tests (E and F) were performed. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.