Fig. 6

a Staining of F-actin (green) and γ-tubulin (magenta) in ALI cultures undergoing early ciliogenesis at days 3, 5 and 14. MWNCT-treated cultures exhibited disorganized actin structure at ALI day 3, prior to apical localization of γ-tubulin. By day 5, extensive staining of γ-tubulin in apical basal bodies was observed in control wells, while MWCNT-treated wells retain γ-tubulin staining primarily in centrioles. By ALI day 14, both MWCNT and vehicle-treated cultures are developing cilia, though basal body staining remains noticeably less pronounced in cells previously exposed to MWCNTs. b Quantitative pixel area analysis of γ-tubulin staining in combined images from 3 donors (bars represent standard error). Appearance of tubulin-staining basal bodies at the apical surface of the BECs by day 5 was significantly decreased by MWCNT exposure at day 1. (*p < 0.05, Multiple t-test with Holm-Sidak comparison correction)