Fig. 5

qRT-PCR analysis of expression of tight junction genes in ectocervical cells following L-LA treatment. Ectocervical epithelial cells were apically treated with 0.3% L-lactic acid (L-LA) or low pH media alone (HCl) for 1 h, and gene expression of tight junction factors claudin-1 (CLDN1), claudin-4 (CLDN4), occludin (OCLN), zona occludens-2/tight junction protein-2 (TJP2) and F11R was assessed at 4 h post treatment by RNA-Seq (A) or qRT-PCR (B). A Fold change in expression of tight junction genes in ectocervical epithelial cells treated with L-LA, D-LA or HCl-treated cells relative to untreated, as determined by RNA-Seq analysis. * and *** represent false discovery rate < 0.05 and < 0.001, respectively. B Relative expression (fold change) of tight junction genes compared to untreated cells (indicated by dotted line) as determined by qRT-PCR. Graph shows mean +/− SEM from n = 5–6 independent experiments. * and ** represent p < 0.05 and < 0.01, respectively, compared to untreated cells as determined by the Mann-Whitney U-test. NS, not significant