One of the main hallmarks of CS exposure is emphysema that is characterized by the damage and destruction of air sacs (alveoli) in the lung. Thus, initial experiments focused on the DIY system’s ability to provoke emphysematous changes in the lungs of female mice upon repeated whole-body exposure to CS. The CS dosing regimen was chosen based on our prior publications in which we utilized the DIY system described here to treat mice with CS and study the molecular pathophysiology of emphysema10,11,12,13,14,15,16. Specifically, mice were exposed whole-body to the smoke of four commercial cigarettes with filter daily, with smoke-free intervals of 10 min in between each cigarette, five days a week for a duration of 4 months10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained lung histology showed the destruction of the alveoli in mice exposed to CS in comparison to Air treated mice (Figure 2A). In agreement, histomorphometric analysis of lung sections in a blinded fashion showed that the mean linear intercept (MLI) was significantly higher in mice exposed to CS as compared to Air controls (Figure 2B). As expected, WBIS to CS provokes a drop in body weight (Figure 2C). Consistent with the above observations CS-exposed mice also showed enhanced airway infiltration of immune cells as well as induction of Matrix metalloproteases 9 and 12 (Mmp9 and Mmp12) gene expression, which are responsible for tissue damage (Figure 2D,E)17. Cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine and a biomarker for CS exposure, was detected to be significantly elevated in the serum of mice exposed to 4 months of CS but was undetectable in Air-exposed mice (Figure 2F).
There is an increasing appreciation of the multifaceted impact of CS exposure on the body’s cells and tissues. A prior study showed that WBI exposure of mice to CS with a regimen of 6 h/day, 5 days/week for 9 months with 3R4F cigarettes led to an alteration in the hematopoietic stem cell niche18. Therefore, we tested the ability of this DIY system to alter bone marrow homeostasis utilizing our pre-established CS dosing regimen10,11,12,13,14,15,16. After exposure, we analyzed BM populations using flow cytometry (Figure 3A). In accordance with the expectations, treatment of mice with CS on this DIY system resulted in an alteration in bone marrow (BM) populations. Specifically, flow cytometric analysis showed a significant increase in hematopoietic stem and progenitor (HSPC) populations after 4 months of CS exposure as compared to Air controls (Figure 3B). Extending these observations, whole-body exposure to CS of mice utilizing a commercially available system (see Table of Materials) also showed an alteration in HSPC populations (Figure 3C). The dosing regimen and duration of CS exposure used in the commercial system and the prior publication on CS and hematopoiesis18 were quite different than this DIY system suggesting that bone marrow homeostasis is exquisitely sensitive to a wide range of CS dosing and treatment regimens (Figure 3C). Overall, this data highlights that this DIY system is an affordable option that can be used to expose mice to CS under controlled conditions to reliably study its effects in a range of cells and tissues.

Figure 2: CS-mediated induction of airway inflammation and lung emphysematous changes of mice. (A) H&E stained lung sections from WT C57BL/6 mice exposed to Air or CS for 4 months. 4x magnification; inset 20x magnification. Scale bar 200 μM. (B) Mean linear intercept (MLI) as a measure of interalveolar wall distance was measured using unbiased histomorphometry from mice treated by Air or CS. (C) Mice weights after 4 months of Air or CS exposure. (D) Total and differential cell counts from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of control (Air) versus CS treated mice. Total leukocytes (Total), macrophages (Mac), neutrophils (Neu), and lymphocytes (Lym). Relative expression of (E) Mmp9 and (F) Mmp12 mRNA quantified by real-time PCR from BAL fluid of Air or CS exposed mice and normalized to Gapdh expression. n = 4–5 mice/group. (G) Serum levels of cotinine in mice exposed to Air or CS were measured by ELISA 24 h after the last CS treatment; n = 7–8 mice/group. Statistical comparisons were done using (B,C,D,E) Unpaired t-test and (F) Welch’s t-test. Data shown Mean ± SEM. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 3: In line with expectations this DIY system can be used to study CS-mediated effects in the bone marrow of mice. (A) Gating strategies to identify HSPCs and HSCs by flow cytometry. Lineage markers include: Gr1, Mac1, B220, CD4, CD8, and Ter119. (B) Percentage of HSPC and HSCs in the whole bone marrow after CS exposure using this DIY system with the same 4-month regimen. (C) Percentage of HSPC and HSCs in the whole bone marrow after CS exposure using the commercially available system with the following exposure procedure: 24 3RF4 research cigarettes daily, 12 puffs/cigarette, 5 days a week for 4.5 weeks duration. (B–C) Mann-Whitney test; n = 5 mice/group. Data shown as Mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.