Figure 3.

IL-1β decreased RMLMC contractility. (A) A representative photograph of RMLMC/collagen gels incubated with IL-1β (20 ng·mL⁻¹) and TNF-α (20 ng·mL⁻¹) over the period of 4 days. (B) IL-1β (20 ng·mL⁻¹), but not TNF-α (20 ng·mL⁻¹), decreased RMLMC contractility (expressed in % of contraction vs. control) while IL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakinra 5 μg·mL⁻¹) preserved RMLMC contractility in the presence of IL-1β. (C) IL-1β concentration-dependently decreased RMLMC contraction. (D) Different concentrations of TNF-α had no effect on RMLMC contraction. Contractility of RMLMC was measured after 4 days of incubation with cytokines; n = 5, ***P < 0.001 versus control, **P < 0.01 IL-1β 5 versus 10 ng·mL⁻¹, #P < 0.001 IL-1β 5 versus 20 ng·mL⁻¹, *P < 0.05 IL-1β 10 versus 20 ng·mL⁻¹; one-way anova, with Bonferroni's post hoc test; data are mean ± SEM.