Fig. 6.

NF-қB expression and activity in conjunctival fibroblasts treated with VPA and/or TNF-α. a Representative immunoblots of conjunctival fibroblasts treated as indicated for 2 days and probed for NF-қB proteins. GAPDH for each NF-қB analysis was used to indicate protein loading. b Densitometric analyses of NF-қB expression. Densitometric values were normalized against corresponding GAPDH and values shown are calculated as fold changes over no treatment (negative control). The mean fold change ± SD of three independent experiments for each NF-қB and each condition is shown. Where significant, the fold reduction in mean NF-қB expression comparing VPA+TNF-α with TNF-α only is shown. *p < 0.05. c NF-қB-dependent transcription reporter assay of conjunctival fibroblasts treated with VPA and/or TNF-α. Fibroblasts were transfected with the NF-қB reporter plasmid and subjected to the indicated treatments for 24 h. Data shown represent fold luciferase activity relative to no treatment (negative control). Values are the means ± SD of three independent sets of experiments. *p < 0.05 comparing TNF-α with no treatment (negative control); **p < 0.05 comparing VPA+TNF-α with TNF-α only