Fig 3.

P. aeruginosa PAO1-generated OMVs increase the expression levels of TLR4 pathway immunogenically related proteins, including TLR4, TIRAP, NF-κB, IL-1β, and IL-6, in C57BL/6J mouse lungs, as determined by Western blotting (A and B) and quantitative PCR (C). WT mouse models were intranasally instilled with 0.5 mg purified OMVs and the same amount of PBS as a control. Lungs were harvested at the designated time points. Data are presented as means ± SEM from 3 experiments in which protein levels were normalized to GAPDH levels. Data from quantitative PCR were calculated by using the 2^−ΔCT method (34) and normalized to GAPDH levels. Values in each column were compared with the control values (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.001 [determined by one-way ANOVA followed by a Tukey-Kramer post hoc test]).