FIG. 4.

Induction of COX-2 mRNA by VacA in AZ-521 cells transformed with dominant-negative p38. Confluent AZ-521 cells transformed with dominant-negative p38 or pcDNA3 control vector were incubated with VacA (120 nM) in EMEM without serum. Total RNA was isolated at 0, 1, 2, 6, and 12 h after addition of VacA. The relative levels of COX-2 mRNA expression compared with GAPDH mRNA were measured by RT-PCR (A and B) and real-time quantitative PCR (C and D). 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 means ± standard deviations (n = 3). *, P < 0.01.