Figure 7.

Flagellin-mediated hBD2 induction is dependent on NF-κB, MAPK p38, and JNK. Polarized T84 cells were incubated with specific inhibitors of NF-κB, p38, JNK, ERK1/2, or solvent (control) for 1 h before purified flagellin (0.1 μg/ml) was added for 6 h. Alternatively, T84 cells were left untreated (NT) for 7 h. (A) Influence of chemical inhibitors on epithelial barrier function. TER after treatment is expressed as percentage of TER before treatment. (B) hBD2 and IL-8 mRNA levels were quantified by qPCR and expressed as fold changes relative to NT samples. ^***P < 0.001 vs. control. Data are shown as means ± SEM of three independent experiments performed in duplicate.