Figure 2. TpF1 stimulates IL-8 expression in endothelial cells.

HUVECs were exposed to TpF1 or vehicle (saline) for 2, 6, 18, 24 h and the expression of VEGF (a) or IL-8 (c) was evaluated by RT-PCR. Data were normalized to an endogenous reference gene (ribosomal subunit 18S). Values at T₀ cells were taken as reference and set as 1 A.U. and the expression levels for treated cells were relative to the expression of T₀ cells. Culture supernatants from HUVECs, harvested for quantification of mRNA, were collected and the VEGF (b) and IL-8 (d) protein content was quantified by ELISA. Data are expressed as mean ± S.D. of four independent experiments. Significance was determined by Student’s t-test for data of TpF1 treated cells versus vehicle-exposed cells. ***p < 0.001.