Effect of neutrophil depletion on wound healing.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Representative images of fluorescein-stained corneas at day 0 and day 2 after injury in control and neutrophil (N)-depleted WT and HO-2^−/− mice. (<b>B</b>) Wound closure as percent change from day 0. Results are mean ± SE; n = 5–7; *p<0.005 from control WT mice; **p<0.005 from control HO-2^−/− mice; † p<0.01 from control WT mice; ‡ p<0.005 from neutrophil-depleted WT mice.</p

Neutrophil adhesion onto untreated (Control) and TNFα-treated WT and HO-2^−/− aortic endothelial cells (mAEC).

<p>Neutrophil adherence is measured as the fluorescence intensity associated with mAEC and is given in relative fluorescence units (RFU). Results are the mean ± SE; n = 3; **p<0.005 from WT mAEC; †p<0.05 from untreated HO-2^−/− mAEC.</p

Infiltration of Inflammatory cells in the cornea at day 2 after epithelial injury.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Representative H&E staining of corneas from uninjured and injured control and neutrophil-depleted WT and HO-2^−/− mice 2 days after injury. (<b>B</b>) Number of neutrophils in peripheral blood of control and neutrophil (N)-depleted WT and HO-2−/− mice 2 days after injury. Results are mean ± SE; n = 3; *p<0.0001 from control WT; **p<0.0001 from control HO-2^−/− mice; † p<0.05 from control WT.</p

Real-time PCR analysis of HO-1 mRNA expression in neutrophils purified from peripheral blood of control and neutrophil (N)-depleted WT and HO-2^−/− mice 2 days after injury.

<p>Results are the mean ± SE; n = 3; *p<0.01 from neutrophils purified from control WT mice; **p<0.05 from neutrophils purified from neutrophil-depleted HO-2^−/− mice.</p

Real-time PCR analysis of mRNA expression of (A) midkine (Mdk) and (B) VE-Cadherin in untreated aortic endothelial cells (mAEC) from WT and HO-2^−/−.

<p>Results are the mean ± SE; n = 4 to 5; *p<0.005 from WT mAEC.</p

Immunofluoescence analysis of (A) Gr-1- and (B) CD68-positive cells in corneas from control and neutrophil-depleted WT and HO-2^−/− mice 2 days after injury.

<p>Images were taken at 63× magnification and are representative of three separate analyses.</p