Fig. 2.

Dose-and time-dependent induction of inflammation and apoptosis in HUVECs following P.g-LPS exposure. (a) CCK-8 assay demonstrating decreased cell viability after 12, 24, and 32-h incubation with P.g-LPS at concentrations ranging from 0 μg/mL to 1 μg/mL. (b–c) ELISA quantification of IL-6 and TNF-α in supernatants. (d–e) Western blot analysis showing increased expression of apoptotic markers Bax and cleaved caspase-3. β-actin was used as a loading control. (f–g) Immunofluorescence showed an increase in P.g-LPS and a decrease in the expression of tight junction protein ZO-1. All data are presented as the mean ± SD. ∗P < 0.05; ∗∗P < 0.01; ∗∗∗P < 0.001; ∗∗∗∗P < 0.0001.

Abbreviations: HUVECs = Human umbilical vein endothelial cells; P.g-LPS = Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide; CCK-8 = Cell Counting Kit-8; IL-6 = Interleukin-6; TNF-α = Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; ZO-1 = Zonula Occludens-1; SD = Standard deviation.