Figure 5

Effect of DDIT3 knockdown on the inflammatory response to cadmium (Cd) in BEAS-2B cells. BEAS-2B cells were transiently transfected with DDIT3 siRNA or a control, non-targeting siRNA (siNC). After incubation for 24 h, the cells were treated with Cd (10 μM) for 24 h. Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNAs were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (a). Cell supernatants were subjected to ELISA to measure IL-6 or IL-8 levels (b). Cell lysates were subjected to western blot analysis to determine the protein level of IL-1β, TNFα, iNOS or COX2 (c) and NF-κB activity (d). The PTEN/AKT pathway was examined by western blotting (e). All data shown are representative of at least three biological replicates. *P<0.05; **P<0.01.