Figure 6.

LTα₁β₂ induces the production of BAFF from nasal stromal cells. (A) Immunofluorescence staining of nasal polyps (NP) tissues showing LTβR expression on vimentin⁺ stromal cells. Original magnification ×400. Inset shows a higher magnification of the outlined area, and arrows denote positive cells. (B) Stromal cells purified from NP tissues were treated with LTα₁β₂ at various doses for 12 h, and the mRNA expression of BAFF in stromal cells was detected by real-time PCR (n = 7). (C) The protein levels of BAFF in stromal cell culture supernatants after LTα₁β₂ (100 ng/ml) treatment for 48 h (n = 7). BAFF, B cell-activating factor; LTβR, lymphotoxin β receptor; LTα₁β₂, lymphotoxin α₁β₂. * indicates P < 0.05 vs. control (without LTα1β₂ treatment); ** indicates P < 0.01 vs. control (without LTα₁β₂ treatment).