Figure 1.

Hepcidin is a cationic amphipathic protein that is induced by heat-inactivated bacteria or bacterial DNA. (A) Protein ribbon of hepcidin obtained by homology modelling method. (B) Colour-coded electrostatic potentials mapped onto the surfaces of hepcidin. Regions of positive charges are in blue, and negative charges are in red, and hydrophobic charges are in white. (C) L8824 cells were seed in 12-well plates for 24 h adherence. Subsequently, cells were stimulated with 2 μg/mL LPS, PGN, poly(I:C), A. hydrophila DNA, or heat-inactivated A. hydrophila (hi A. h) for 3 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24 h and the expression of hepcidin was measured by qRT-PCR.