Fig. 4.

Overexpression of soluble ST2 (sST2-Fc) suppresses the transcription of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4. Lung TLR-4 mRNA expression was measured in mice pretreated with adenovirus-mediated sST2-Fc (Ad-sST2-Fc) followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure at 3 h. Results were obtained using real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and expressed as relative increase of mRNA expression compared with control animals. Data are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (n = 4–6 in each group). *P < 0·05 versus the LPS group.