Fig 4.

DEP exposure increases proinflammatory cytokine secretion by BMDMs. Murine BMDMs were treated with 4, 20, or 100 μg of DEPs. After 24 hours of exposure, the cells were washed to remove DEPs from the culture. The BMDMs were stimulated with D39 on day 6 following DEP exposure. IL-6 and TNF-α production was measured by ELISA. A, Uptake of DEPs (4, 20, or 100 μg) by murine BMDMs following 24-hour treatment. B-C, TNF-α and IL-6 in culture supernatant 24 hours after pneumococcal stimulation (normalized against total protein production). Results represent 4 independent experiments. Bars indicate mean cytokine production; error bars represent the SEM; ***P < .001; n = 4 per condition).