Figure 4.

CA blocked the LPS-activated MAPK activation in bMEC. The effect of CA on the activation of critical proteins in the MAPK signaling pathways. Cells stimulated with LPS (50 μg/mL) for 1.5, 1, and 0.5 h after incubation with indicated concentrations (10, 25, and 50 μg/mL) of CA or serum-free media for 3 h; then, the total proteins were prepared and subjected to western blotting. Upper panel: western blot was performed to related protein levels; one out of three independent experiments is shown. Lower panel: quantification of related proteins normalized to actin levels (0.5 h). Data are shown as the means ± Sem (n = 3). ^##P < 0.01 vs. the control group; ^∗∗P < 0.01 vs. the group treated with LPS only.