Figure 3.

Sphingosine kinase inhibitor, sphingosine kinase inhibitor II (SKI II), suppresses expression of placental inflammatory cytokines and endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (Ece1) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated timed pregnant embryonic day 15.5 mice. Placental tissue lysates from sham, LPS-induced, and LPS-treated mice rescued from preterm birth with SKI II were subjected to gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Western blots were probed with antibodies directed against tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα;) (A), Il-1β (B), Il-6 (C), Il-10 (D), and Ece1 (E). Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and β-actin were used as loading controls. Western blot experiments were performed at least three times, using at least three placentas from three different dams for each data point each time. One representative immunoblot is shown for each group for each protein. Splicing of immunoblot bands is indicated by white lines. ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01.