FIG. 4.

H. pylori activates the IL-12 p40 promoter through the NF-κB binding site. (Left) Schematic diagram of the IL-12 p40 reporter constructs containing the wild type (−292) and internal deletion mutant of the NF-κB site (ΔκB). LUC, luciferase. (Right) Either the IL-12 p40 reporter construct or a construct bearing an internal deletion of the NF-κB binding site was transfected into MKN45 cells, and subsequently the cells were infected with H. pylori ATCC 49503 for 6 h (MOI, 20:1). The activity is expressed relative to that of cells transfected with each construct without further H. pylori infection, which was defined as 1. Data are means ± standard deviations from three independent experiments. *, P < 0.05, as determined by the Student t test.