Figure 1.

Overexpression of PPARα and PPARγ protects against HIV-1-induced activation of the ERK1/2 and Akt signaling. Confluent hCMECs and clones overexpressing PPARα or PPARγ (hCMEC/PPARα or hCMEC/PPARγ cells, respectively) cultured on 6-well-plate Transwell systems were exposed to control or HIV-1-infected monocytes (U937 cells); 1.5 × 10⁶/well for 1 h. Levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2; A) and Akt (pAkt; B) were determined by Western blotting. Levels of pERK1/2 or pAkt are normalized to the total level of these kinases. Blots are representative images from 3 independent experiments; quantified results are depicted as bar graphs. Results are means ± se of 3 separate experiments. **P < 0.01 vs. uninfected control; ^†P < 0.05, ^††P < 0.01 vs. corresponding control group.