FIG. 3.

Cytokine mRNA stimulation. Results of the RPA of one representative case. Five micrograms of total RNA isolated from PBMC stimulated in vitro with OMVs from VA-MENGOC-BC was analyzed with PharMingen's RiboQuant Multi-Probe RPA system. Lane 1, background control: lane 2, RNA control; lane 3, radiolabeled undigested probes; lane 4, PHA-positive control. Note that since undigested radiolabeled RNA probe contains flanking frames of plasmid DNA, it migrates at lower rates than protected fragments due to the elimination of nonprotected flanking frames during RNase digestion (A). (B) Quantification of specific cytokine bands upon autoradiography of RPA of total RNA from PBMC in vitro stimulated with the OMVs from VA-MENGOC-BC, using the Molecular Analyst software. The average and standard errors of six independent cases are represented.