Fig. 4.

Effects of 20(S)-protopanaxatriol (PPT) on the phospholipase A2 (PLA₂) activity or expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1/2, and the DNA binding activities of transcription factors, nuclear factor (NF)-κB and activator protein (AP)-1 in activated mast cells. GPMCs (1 × 10⁶) pre-incubated with [³H] arachidonic acid (1 μCi) and BMMCs (1 × 10⁶ cells) were sensitized and challenged by each antigen/antibody reaction. The experimental details and PPT treatment were as described in Materials and methods. (A) PLA₂ activity in GPMCs. The data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (n = 8). ** p < 0.01 versus control (Con). ⁺⁺, p < 0.01 versus ovalbumin (OVA) challenge. (B) The expression of PLA₂ protein in guinea pig mast cells (GPMCs) or mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs). (C) Expression of COX-1/2 in BMMCs. (D) Activities of transcription factors, NF-κB and AP-1 in BMMCs. ¹⁾ Numbers below the bands indicate the ratio of band intensity of each band versus those of control and actin protein or total protein. (a) Negative control; (b) competition. The data are representative of four independent experiments (n = 4). HSA-DNP, human serum albumin–dinitrophenyl.