Fig. 2

Primary murine astrocytes express IL-24 following exposure to bacterial ligands for certain toll-like receptors. a Murine astrocytes were either unstimulated or challenged with LPS (5 ng/ml) for 6, 12, or 24 h, and IL-24 mRNA expression was determined by semi-quantitative (top) and real-time quantitative (bottom) RT-PCR. Expression of GAPDH mRNA housekeeping gene product is included and the image shown is representative of at least three independent experiments. Below, real-time RT-PCR data is shown as mean fold increases in product ± the SEM of three independent experiments and an asterisk indicates a statistically significant difference from unchallenged cells (p < 0.05). b Astrocytes were either unchallenged or challenged with TLR ligands; flagellin (50 and 100 ng/mL; FLG), the lipoprotein Pam3Cys (5 and 25 ng/mL; PAM), or dsRNA polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (0.5 or 1 μg/mL; PIC) for 6 h, and IL-24 mRNA expression was determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Expression of the housekeeping gene GAPDH is shown, and relative IL-24 mRNA expression was determined by densitometric analysis and normalized to unchallenged cells. Murine whole thymus tissue was used as a positive control for IL-24 expression (+). Asterisks denote statistical significance compared to unchallenged cells (p < 0.05)