ExoU Activates NF-κB and Increases IL-8/KC Secretion during Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection
Figure 5
Inhibition of NF-κB reduces IL-8 expression and secretion induced by ExoU in P. aeruginosa-infected A549 cultures.
In (A), representative agarose gels of RT-PCR assays in which A549 cells were treated or not with 10 µM Bay 11-7082, 1 hour prior infection with PA103 or PA103ΔexoU strains or treatment with culture medium (non-infected cells) for 18 hours. In (B), graph shows the means ± SEM of values obtained by three Real Time qRT-PCR assays. In (C), IL-8 concentrations detected in supernatants of cultures pretreated or not with 10 µM Bay 11-7082 for 1 hour and then exposed for 21 hours to PA103, PA103ΔexoU or culture medium, as assessed by ELISA. In (D), IL-8 concentrations, as detected by ELISA, in supernatants of cultures pretreated or not with 10 µM Bay 11-7082 and/or 10 µM SP600125 for 1 hour and then exposed for 21 hours to bacterial strains or culture medium. In (C) and (D), data represent means ± SEM of three assays performed in quadruplicate. ***p<0.001 when the values obtained from untreated PA103-infected cultures were compared with those from the other cultures.