FIG. 2.

Effects of p38 MAP kinase and Erk1/2 inhibitors on VacA-induced COX-2 expression in AZ-521 cells. Confluent AZ-521 cells were pretreated with SB203580 (10 μM) or PD98059 (10 μM) or both for 1 h prior to incubation with or without VacA (120 nM) in EMEM without serum. Total RNA was isolated at 2 h after addition of VacA. The relative levels of COX-2 mRNA expression compared with GAPDH mRNA were measured by RT-PCR (A) and real-time quantitative PCR (B). The data are representative of at least three experiments. Real-time PCR results from three independent experiments with assays in duplicate are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). *, P < 0.005.