Figure 11.

Blastomyces dermatitidis and β-glucan alter the transcript levels of cytokine genes that regulate mucin expression. Immortalized canine airway carcinoma (BACA) cells were infected with live (LV) or heat-killed (HK) B. dermatitidis strain SCB-2 at the multiplicity of infection of 5:1, or to β-glucan (10 μg/mL) for 24 hours. The expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-33, IL-4, IL-13, IL-8, and IL-17 genes was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR and normalized to the GAPDH, and compared against BACA cells treated with phosphate-buffered saline (-). The experiments were independently performed three times in triplicate. Typical results from one of the experiments are shown. The data represent means ± SEM of triplicated samples in each group. ∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01, and ∗∗∗P < 0.001 (t-test).