Figure 4.

TAS2R16 activation represses LPS-induced NF-κB phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. (A) Representative Western blot images for p65 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation from siCTRL and siTAS2R16 HGFs treated with LPS or LPS+salicin (p65 for whole cell lysate and H3 for nuclear extract). (B) Bar graph depicts the normalized ratio of p65 to histone H3 and p65-ser²⁷⁶ to p65. Each circle represents an independent experiment (n=3). (C) Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for phosphorylated p65 (p-p65, in magenta color) in HGFs. Nuclei are stained by DAPI (gray). Scale bar, 20 μm. (D) Quantitative analysis for p-p65 and DAPI co-localization is presented. Each circle represents a datum from one field (n=4-7). LPS 5 µg/mL and salicin 2 mM in each figure. Data are presented as mean ± s.d. Comparisons between different groups were performed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; n.s., not significant.