Figure 5.

Effects of TLR4-specific siRNA on cultured podocytes. (A) Reduction of TLR4 mRNA in podocytes after transfection with TLR4-specific siRNA for 12 or 24 h (real-time RT-PCR); TLR9-specific siRNA and a nonsilencing siRNA served as controls. (B) Presence of TLR4 protein on the surface of podocytes as detected by FACS analysis. (Left) Naive cells. (Right) Cells incubated with TLR4-specific siRNA for 48 h. (C) Effect of pretreatment with TLR4-specific siRNA on chemokine induction by LPS and Lipid A (real-time RT-PCR). In A and C, significant differences are indicated for P < 0.05 (*) or P < 0.01 (**).