Figure 4

Rapamycin modulates the protein levels of PTEN, PI3K, pAkt, pmTOR, p4E-BP1, T-bet, GATA-3, and Foxp3 in nasal polys. Representative immunoblot data are shown (A) and significant changes in the levels of PTEN, PI3K, pAkt, pmTOR, p4E-BP1, T-bet, GATA-3, and Foxp3 were observed by multiple comparisons (P < 0.0125 by the ANOVA test and Bonferroni correction) (B). Significantly higher expression of PI3K, pAkt, pmTOR, and p4E-BP1 and lower expression of PTEN were observed in nasal polyps (* P < 0.05 by the unpaired t-test for intergroup comparison). After rapamycin stimulation, the protein levels of pmTOR and p4E-BP1 significantly were decreased in nasal polyps (70% and 72% for pmTOR and p4E-BP1, respectively; **P < 0.05 by the paired t-test for intra-group comparison), as well as in the control turbinate (69% and 68% for pmTOR and p4E-BP1, respectively; **P < 0.05 by the paired t-test for intragroup comparison). In contrast, the expression levels of PTEN, PI3K, and pAkt were not affected by rapamycin stimulation (P > 0.05 by the paired t-test for intragroup comparison). Furthermore, Foxp3 expression was significantly upregulated (3.3-fold in nasal polyps and 2.3-fold in control tissues; **P < 0.05 by the paired t-test for intra-group comparison) after rapamycin stimulation, while T-bet and GATA-3 expression correspondingly decreased (**P < 0.05 by the paired t-test for intra-group comparison).