FIGURE 2.

Reduced GR protein expression and the GR antagonist RU486 result in an increased TNFα-mediated induction of IL-8 mRNA expression in End1/E6E7 cells. A, End1/E6E7 cells were transfected with either nonspecific siRNA (NSC (black bars)) or with siRNA specific for the human GR (checked bars). Twenty-four hours after transfection, the cells were treated with 20 ng/ml TNFα in the absence or presence of 1 μm DEX. Total RNA was isolated 24 h after induction and reverse transcribed, and the relative levels of expression of IL-8 mRNA were measured by qPCR and normalized to relative GAPDH mRNA expression. Relative fold induction of IL-8 mRNA expression was normalized to vehicle control, NSC. The graph shows pooled results of three independent experiments. For statistical analysis, two-way ANOVA was used with Bonferroni's post-test. The p values are represented as follows: **, p < 0.01. B, End1/E6E7 cells were induced with 20 ng/ml TNFα in the absence or presence of 1 μm RU486. The graph represents pooled results of three independent experiments. For statistical analysis, Student's t test was used, with no statistical difference found.