FIG. 3.

ICE mRNA is significantly modulated by LPS and C. albicans stimulation. (A) Total cellular RNA (1 μg) from unstimulated and C. albicans (10⁵ cell/cm²)- and LPS (5 μg/ml)-stimulated oral epithelial cells was analyzed by RT-PCR with primers specific for ICE (620 bp) and GAPDH (220 bp). The stimulation period is indicated at the top of each lane. Lane Ctrl contains unstimulated oral epithelial cell cultures. The gels shown is a representative of three different experiments. (B) The degree of ICE modulation (increase or decrease) was determined by band scanning using the public domain NIH Image software package. Expression of GAPDH mRNA is shown as a loading control for the experiments. Data are the means + SDs (error bars) of three different experiments. The statistical differences (∗∗, P ≤ 0.01; ∗, P ≤ 0.05) were obtained by comparing the value obtained at 3 h to the value obtained at 6 h or the value obtained at 6 h to that obtained at 12 h, etc., for the same stimuli (LPS or C. albicans).