Fig 2. Effect of Li chloride (LiCl) on NFκB and MAPK signaling in the absence and presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in human macrophages.

THP-1X-blue macrophages were pretreated with indicated concentrations of NaCl, or LiCl for 12 hrs and 24 hrs. For dose response with LPS, cells were pretreated with NaCl (30 mM), or LiCl (30 mM), for 12 hours followed by different concentrations of LPS as indicated for another 24 hours. For dose response with LiCl, cells were pretreated with NaCl, or LiCl with the indicated concentrations for 12 hours followed by LPS treatment (2 ng/ml) for another 24 hours. Secretion of SEAP (secreted alkaline phosphatase) was measured using plate reader assay as described before (Anur et al., 2012; Tang et al., 2012; Waisberg et al., 2012). *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001. N=3. (B). Western blots were performed as described before (Patial et al., 2011b; Patial et al., 2011a; Hull et al., 2013). For this, THP-1X-blue macrophages were pretreated with NaCl (30 mM) or LiCl (30 mM) for 12 hours followed by LPS (2 ng/ml) for the indicated time points. Cell lysates were then subjected to Western blot analysis for the indicated proteins. Blots were scanned and quantified using Licor Odyssey. pERK1/2, pNFκB, and pP38 were normalized for loading using ERK2 or tubulin. Representative blots are shown in the left middle column. N=3. **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001.