Figure 6.
Primary HBECs under IL-1 (1 ng/mL) stimuli in the presence or absence of either methylprednisone (10−5 M) or hydrocortisone (10−10 M) in a 24-h treatment. (A) MMP-2 and (B) MMP-9 expression in the absence of theophylline. (C) MMP-2 and (D) MMP-9 expression in the presence of theophylline (10−5 M). Protein levels were determined by Western blot analysis.
Notes: The gray level of every band was measured to check the difference in the protein expressions of HBECs by ImageJ software. Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean of three experiments. **P<0.01 IL-1 vs control; #P<0.01 (IL-1 with corticosteroids vs IL-1 without corticosteroids).
Abbreviations: HBECs, human bronchial epithelial cells; IL-1, interleukin-1; MMP, matrix metalloproteases.