FIGURE 5.

TNF synergistically stimulates indications of ER stress in ethanol-exposed cells. A and B, HepG2 cells were exposed to 25 mm ethanol in the presence or absence of cholesterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol at concentrations of 10 and 1 μg/ml, respectively. TNF (1 ng/ml) was added to the cell culture medium after 24 h of ethanol exposure and the cells incubated for a further 24 h. The cells were then harvested and the level of phosphorylated and total IRE-1α or JNK was determined by Western blotting.