Effect of cytokine stimulation on SKALP/elafin and hBD-2 gene expression in human skin equivalents. Skin equivalents were stimulated the last 4 days of the air-liquid interface culture with 10 ng/ml of IL-1α, 10 ng/ml of IL-1α and 5 ng/ml of TNF–α, or 10 ng/ml of IL-1α, 5 ng/ml of TNF–α, and 5 ng/ml of IL-6. SKALP/elafin (A) and hBD-2 (B) gene expressions were determined by qPCR. All stimuli induced a significant induction of SKALP/elafin (P < 0.02) and hBD-2 (P < 0.001) gene expression (analysis of variance, repeated design). The cytokine mix of IL-1α, TNF-α, and IL-6 induced a significantly higher expression of hBD-2 than the other stimuli (P < 0.05, Duncan’s multiple range test).