Figure 5.

AFB₁ promotes TLR4 expression and inflammatory responses in mice. Anesthetized mice were infected intranasally with 1000 TCID₅₀ of SIV or PBS at d 1, d 7, and d 14; injected intraperitoneally with various concentrations of AFB₁ daily; and sacrificed at 15 dpi. The spleen tissues were harvested at 15 dpi to assess TLR4 expression as measured by (A) TLR4 protein staining, (B) relative TLR4 mRNA levels and (C) TLR4 protein levels using immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. (D) Serum TNF-α and (E) IL-10 levels. Representative immunohistochemistry images from nine mice in each group were obtained at 400 × magnification. Data are presented as the means ± SEM of three independent experiments. Significance compared with the SIV control group, ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.01.