Fig. 4.

Effects of Tat-CIAPIN1 protein on TPA-induced pro-inflammatory mediator protein (iNOS and COX-2) and cytokine (IL-6 and TNF-α) expression in mice ears. Mice were stimulated with TPA (1 μg/ear), after which Tat-CIAPIN1 protein (10 μg) was topically applied to the mouse ears for 3 days. Mouse ear extracts were prepared. After total RNA was extracted from ear biopsies, pro-inflammatory mediator proteins (iNOS and COX-2) and cytokine (IL-6 and TNF-α) expression levels were measured by RT-PCR using specific primers (A, B). The expression levels of pro-inflammatory mediator protein (iNOS and COX-2) were confirmed by Western blotting (C, D). The band intensity was measured by densitometer. *P < 0.05, compared with TPA-treated mice.