Fig. 4

MFG-E8-derived short peptide 68 (MSP68) reduces apoptosis in the lungs after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Male C57BL/6 mice were sham-operated or subjected to CLP with injection of vehicle (normal saline) or MSP68 (1 mg/kg body weight) at 2 h after CLP. The lung tissues were harvested at 20 h after CLP. a Sections of lung tissues were stained with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) (green fluorescent), nuclear counterstained (red fluorescent), and examined under fluorescent microscopy. Representative images at original magnification × 200 are shown. b The numbers of apoptotic cells quantified from the TUNEL staining (averaged over 10 microscopic fields per mouse) are shown. c Protein was extracted from the lung tissues for western blotting. Representative blots for cleaved caspase-3 and loading β-actin control, and graph for their densitometric analysis are presented. Data are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean (n = 4–6/group) and compared by one-way analysis of variance and Student–Newman–Keuls test; *P <0.05 versus sham and ^# P <0.05 versus vehicle