Figure 4.

Macrophage gene expression can be indirectly modulated by NGF stimulated nociceptors. BMDMs were treated with (A) GM-CSF, (B) LPS, and (C) conditioning medium from NGF-stimulated nociceptors for 48 h (see Materials and Methods). The fold-change in the expression of dysregulated genes on a macrophage card (Table 1, column C) is depicted on a log₁₀ scale. Only significantly dysregulated genes are depicted in A and B. Each dot represents a separate experiment (n = 10). Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to identify genes that were significantly modulated after treatment. The results were corrected for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction. Dotted line represents untreated controls where conditioning media from untreated nociceptors was applied to BMDMs. No significant changes were seen in BMDM cultures treated with conditioning medium from untreated nociceptors as a control. Box-and-whisker plots showing maximum to minimum range. Samples with cycling thresholds of 40 in the unstimulated conditions were not included in the analysis. *adjusted p < 0.05, **adjusted p < 0.01, ***adjusted p < 0.001.