Fig. 3

TNF-α promotes HBMEC proliferation through TNFR1, but not TNFR2. CFSE-labeled HBMECs were pre-incubated with 10 μg/ml neutralizing antibodies to TNFR1 or TNFR2 for 30 min and then stimulated with or without 10 ng/ml rhTNF-α. The cultures were incubated for 12 or 24 h before being harvested and analyzed for cell proliferation by flow cytometry. a Histogram of HBMEC proliferation with indicated treatments analyzed by ModFit software. b Quantification of HBMEC proliferation. The proliferation index was quantified using ModFit software and expressed as the percentage of the control. The results represent the mean ± SEM of four experiments. Note that TNF-α significantly increased HBMEC proliferation relative to control conditions (**P < 0.01); and this was abrogated by the anti-TNFR1 but not the anti-TNFR2 antibody. #P < 0.05