Fig. 5

Elevation of the expression level of laminin induced by expression of AQP5. The MKN45 cells were transfected with mock (a) or the AQP5 vector (b) at 24 h after seeding of the cells and followed by another 48 h culture. Double immunostaining was performed using anti-AQP5 (green color) and anti-laminin β3 (red color) antibodies. Localizations of AQP5 (left side), laminin β3 (middle-left side), and AQP5 plus laminin β3 (merged image; middle-right side) are shown. Optical images are shown in right-side panels. Scale bar 10 μm. c Western blotting of the membrane fraction from the AQP5-transfected cells or mock cells for laminin β3 and β-actin. d The level of protein expression of laminin β3 in the AQP5-transfected cells was compared with that of mock cells. The score for the normalized expression level of laminin β3 = [(amount of laminin β3 protein in the AQP5 cells)/(amount of β-actin protein in the AQP5 cells)]/[(amount of laminin β3 protein in mock cells)/(amount of β-actin protein in mock cells)]. The score for mock cells was normalized as 1. Averaged score ± SE of the AQP5-transfected cells are shown. n = 6. **p < 0.01