Figure 6.

Autophagy-related genes and Nrf2 signaling pathway were decreased with blockade of VDR. BEAS-2B cells were transfected with either Ctrl siRNA or VDR siRNA for 24 h in serum-free medium and then received indicated medium from THP-1 cells (Ctrl and particle groups) with or without IL4 treatment for another 24 h. The total RNA was extracted, and qRT-PCR assay was employed to measure the mRNA expression of (a) VDR, (b) CYP24A, (c) Beclin1, (d) LC3B, (e) Nrf2, and (f) GCS. Results were expressed as means ± SD (n = 4; ^∗P < 0.05, Ctrl vs. treatment groups; ^#P < 0.05, P vs. IL4+P).