Figure 3.

The dose effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on mRNA expression of cytokines and contractile-associated proteins in immortalized human myometrial (UtSM) cells. The UtSM cells were treated with different concentrations of LPS for 12 hours, and the effects on (A) MCP-1, (B) IL-1β, (C) TNF-α, (D) connexin 43, and (F) oxytocin receptor were assessed with reverse transcription and qPCR analysis. The data were normalized with their respective GAPDH values. The bars represent the mean ± SEM from 3 replicates in each group. Groups with asterisks (*P < .05; **P < .01) are significantly different from the vehicle-treated controls. GAPDH indicates glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; IL, interleukin; MCP, monocyte chemoattractant protein; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; mRNA, messenger RNA; qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction; SEM, standard error of the mean; UtSM, myometrial smooth muscle.