Fig. 3.

Expression of proinflammatory mediator genes in E. coli-infected astrocytes transfected with retrovirus containing IκBα superrepressor. (a) Primary human astrocytes were transfected with either retrovirus containing IκBα-superrepressor (retrovirus-IκBα-AA) or control virus (retrovirus-GFP). At 48 h after transfection, the cells were infected with E. coli for 3 h. NF-κB binding activity was assayed by EMSA. (b) Transfected astrocytes were then infected with E. coli for 9 h. For quantification of the expressed transcripts, total RNA was reverse-transcribed using an oligo(dT) primer and synthetic internal RNA standards, and amplified by PCR. Data are presented as percentage of increase, compared with E. coli-infected (mean ± SD, n = 5). *statistical significance with P < 0·05 in comparison with control virus-transfected cells infected with E. coli. (□) E. coli-infected; (▪) E. coli-infected cells transfected with retrovirus-IκBα-AA; () E. coli-infected cells transfected with control virus (retrovirus-GFP).