FIG. 5.
Dose-dependent effect of ERK and p38 inhibitors on rHagB-induced cytokine production. C57BL/6 peritoneal macrophages (5 × 105 cells) were pretreated with U0126, PD98059, or SB203580 (1 to 50 μM) for 2 h and then stimulated with rHagB (20 μg/ml) for 20 h. The levels of IL-10, IL-12p40, IFN-γ, and TNF-α in culture supernatants were determined by ELISA. Data are expressed as the mean percent increase over that seen in rHagB-stimulated culture with no inhibitor ± standard error of the means of six separate experiments. Significant increases (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001) were seen when results were compared with levels in macrophages incubated with rHagB only.