Figure 1.

Amadori adducts activate NF-κB in HPMCs. (a) DNA-binding activity of NF-κB was assessed after 1 h treatment of HPMCs with either NHb or HHb (both at 10 nM) or gBSA and nBSA (both at 0.25 mg ml⁻¹). A representative EMSA assay is shown, n=9. (b) NF-κB-dependent transcriptional activation was assessed in cells transiently transfected with p5 × NF-κB-Luc plasmid. HPMCs were exposed for 12 h to the above-described compounds, after which luciferase activity (RLUs) was measured, n=32. (c) Expression of NF-κB1 and NF-κB2 mRNAs after HPMCs exposure to HHb or NHb (both at 10 nM) was analysed by RT–MPCR assay. A representative blot and densitometry values of the ratio mRNA NF-κB1, 2/GAPDH mRNA are shown, n=9. Results are expressed as mean±s.e.m. ^*P⩽0.05 vs basal; ^†P⩽0.05 vs the respective glycosylation control.