Figure 9.
S. pneumoniae (S.p.) lysate activates TLR 2-, 4-, and 9-induced NF-κB activation and TAT and morphine treatment synergizes with S. pneumoniae-induced activation in HEK293 cells. Cells (100,000 cells/ml) were stably transfected with TLR 2, 4, and 9 and transiently transfected with hemagglutin-tagged MOR and NF-κB-luciferase reporter plasmid and treated with TAT (100 ng/ml) for 6 h and then activated with S. pneumoniae lysates (1 × 103) for 6 h. Cells were cotransfected with Renilla luciferase to determine transfection efficiency. Data are expressed as ratio of Firefly luciferase to Renilla luciferase and normalized to hemagglutin-tagged MOR expression. Heat-denatured TAT showed no activation (data not shown). Data represents mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05.