Figure 4.

Pharmacological inhibitors alter leptin-dependent signal transduction in H4IIE cells in vitro. H4IIE hepatocellular carcinoma cells were cultured in medium containing 0.1% (v/v) foetal bovine serum (FBS) and treated with one of AG490 (AG; STAT3 inhibitor, 10 µM), PD098059 (PD; pERK1/2 inhibitor, 10 µM), SB202190 (SB; p38-MAPK inhibitor, 100 nm), leptin (L; 100 ng/ml) or inhibitor (1 h) followed by leptin (100 ng/ml). Whole-cell extracts were analysed by Western blot using antibodies against (A) STAT3/pSTAT3, (B) pERK 1/2/ERK 1 or (C) p38-MAPK/pp38-MAPK. C, control