Figure 2.

Elevated MMP-1 expression in gestational tissues from mice induced to deliver with LPS compared with mice induced with PGF-2α. Immunoblots were prepared by using homogenates of placentas (A and B) and uteri (C and D) collected from C57Bl/6 E16 mice induced to labor and deliver with 6.6 mg/kg LPS (n = 8) and E16 mice induced to deliver with PGF-2α (n = 4). Animal experiments were performed with approximately three animals at a time and were carried out on at least 10 different days over the course of several weeks. Blots were incubated with rabbit anti–MMP-1 antibody and developed with horseradish peroxidase–linked goat antirabbit antibody followed by treatment with an ECL Plus Western blotting detection system. Blots were stripped and reprobed with anti-GAPDH antibody as gel loading control, and the ratio of the density of the MMP-1 band divided by the density of the gel-loading control band was determined for each sample. All gel electrophoresis and Western blot experiments were run at least three times. (A and C) representative results; (B and D) results including all samples. *, P < 0.05.