Figure 7.

Overexpression of MAP2K3 activated the MAPK signaling pathway, and knockdown of MAP2K3 inactivated the MAPK signaling pathway. And overexpression of MAP2K3 induced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. (A-C) The expression of total p38, phosphorylated p38, AP-1, and phosphorylated AP-1 proteins in FLSs was determined by Western blotting after transfection with pcDNA3.1-MAP2K3 or MAP2K3 siRNA. (D-G) ELISA was used to detect the levels of cytokines IL-12, IL-16, IL-1β, and TNF-α in the supernatant of the treated FLSs. *P < 0.01. Three independent experiments were carried out, respectively. ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; FLSs: fibroblast-like synoviocytes; MAP2K3: mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3; siRNA: small interfering RNA; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor α.