Fig. 6

Increased expression of tight junction proteins in ectocervical cells by L-LA. Protein levels of barrier proteins claudin-1 (A), claudin-4 (B) and tight junction protein-2 (TJP2) (C) in ectocervical epithelial cells stimulated apically with 0.3% L-LA pH 3.9 (LA) or low pH media (HCl, pH 3.9) for 1 h followed by lysis of cells at 24 h and assessed by Western blot analysis. Target protein levels were standardised to β-actin in the same sample. D Expression of claudin-4 was visualised in ectocervical epithelial cells treated as above by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Images from a single experiment representative of n = 4 replicates are shown (left), and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of claudin-4 signal intensity was assessed using ImageJ software and expressed relative to untreated samples. All graphs show mean +/− SEM (expressed as fold change compared to untreated cells) from 3 to 5 independent experiments. Significance was assessed by the Mann-Whitney U-test; *, **p < 0.05 and 0.01, respectively