Study design
All rats were randomized (n = 6 / group) to undergo the sham operation (group 1) or SU5416 injection with left pneumonectomy (SuPNx). The SuPNx rats were further randomized for subcutaneous treatment with saline (SuPNx42) (group 2) or DIZE (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, CA, USA) at a dose of 15 mg/kg/day from day 1 to day 42 (SuPNx42/DIZE1–42) in the early treatment protocol (group 3) or from day 29 to day 42 (SuPNx42/DIZE29–42) in the late treatment protocol (group 4). On day 42, all rats were ventilated and sacrificed after checking hemodynamic data. The lungs and heart from each rat were rapidly perfused with sterile saline under a pressure of 100-cm H2O prior to removal. One-half of the lung tissue was homogenized for protein extraction, and the other half was kept in 10% formaldehyde and froze in 4°C for histopathologic analysis.