Figure 7. Effect of triptolide on LPS induced TNFα expression and p38 and IκBα phosphorylation in the TM4 Sertoli cells.

TM4 Sertoli cells were incubated with triptolide for 30 minutes prior to stimulation with LPS (100 ng/ml) for 1, 2, 4 and 6 hours. Cells were harvested for RNA, and realtime PCR was carried out using primers specific to TNFα, Mkp-1 and β-actin A and C. B. TM4 Sertoli cells were incubated with triptolide as indicated for 30 minutes prior to stimulation with LPS (100 ng/ml) for 5, 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes. Cell lysates were subjected to western blot analysis for p-p38, p38, p-IκBα, IκBα, and β-actin. Data were normalized to the control and expressed as the percentage of maximum activation of stimulation (b1-b4). * p<0.05.