Figure 8.

T. gondii inhibited AgNP-induced NOX4 production in ARPE-19 cells. Cells were pre-infected with T. gondii at MOI 5 for 2 h and treated with or without 5 μg/mL AgNPs for 24 h. (A) Protein levels of NOX4 and TP3 were assessed by Western blot analysis. (B) NOX4 mRNA levels were determined by qRT-PCR. HPRT1 served as an internal control. (C) Cells were stained with NOX4 antibody and detected under a confocal microscope. Representative confocal images of NOX4 expression as red fluorescence. **P < 0.01, ***, P < 0.001, as compared to the control group.

Abbreviations: AgNPs, silver nanoparticles; MOI, multiplicity of infection; NOX4, NADPH oxidase 4; TP3, Toxoplasma gondii p30 antibody; HPRT1, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase 1; qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; DAPI, 4ʹ,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole