Figure 8.

Nicotine mimics the effects of SSW smoke on the endomembrane. (A&B) Phase contrast microscopy of cells treated with 1.5 mM nicotine for 4 hours showed vacuolation similar to that found in fibroblasts treated with SSW smoke (Compare with Fig. 6A). (C) Western blot analysis showing that nicotine stimulated grp78 expression, an ER specific stress response protein, to similar levels as SSW. GAPDH shows equal loading of cell lysate. (D) RT-PCR of nicotine-treated cells showed that this component of smoke stimulated grp78 expression. Data are representative of at least 3 different studies with 3 different batches of primary cells. Scale bar = 20 μm.