Figure 6

Caspase inhibition administration attenuates apoptosis and collagen production in cultured human monocytes. (a,b) Flow cytometric quantification of apoptosis based on annexin V (x axis) and propidium iodide (y axis) in cultured idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) monocytes reveals that annexin V⁺ cells are reduced in the setting of Z-VAD/fmk. (c,d) Assessment of cultured connective tissue disease interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) monocytes indicates that, compared to mock-treated cells, cultured monocytes fail to adopt a spindle-shaped phenotype when treated with Z/VAD-fmk. Similar results are seen in patients with IPF (data not shown) (e) Treatment with Z-VAD/fmk attenuates collagen production in samples from all groups. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.