Figure 3.

Regulation of IL11 protein by pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines in human lung epithelial cells and fibroblasts. (A). Secreted IL11 in the supernatant of the human lung epithelial cell line (A549 cells) was quantified by ELISA after treatment with TGFβ, IL1β, TNFα, and cytokine combinations. The following cytokine concentrations were used for 24h-treatment: TNFα, 5 ng/ml; IL1β, 5 ng/ml; TGFβ, 5 ng/ml; TGFβ + IL1β, 2.5 ng/ml each; TGF + TNFα, 2.5 ng/ml each; IL1β + TNFα, 2.5 ng/ml each. (B). IL11 in the supernatant of the cultured primary human lung fibroblasts was quantified by ELISA (TNFα, 5 ng/ml; IL1β, 5 ng/ml; TGFβ, 5 ng/ml; TGFβ+IL1β, 2.5 ng/ml each; TGFβ +TNFα, 2.5 ng/ml each; IL1β + TNFα, 2.5 ng/ml each; all cytokine treatment lasted for 24 h). Representative data of at least 2 independent experiments. P-values were determined by one-way ANOVA or Student’s t-tests. *P ≤ 0.05; ***P ≤ 0.001, Bar graphs represent means and standard deviations of two independent experiments.