Figure 3 | Laboratory Investigation

Figure 3

From: Sjögren's syndrome autoantibodies provoke changes in gene expression profiles of inflammatory cytokines triggering a pathway involving TACE/NF-κB

Figure 3

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α converting enzyme (TACE) is involved in anti-Ro/SSA Abs-dependent nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) nuclear translocation. NF-κB activity evaluation in anti-Ro/SSA Abs plus TAPI-1-treated salivary gland epithelial cells (SGEC) using the NF-κB consensus DNA binding ELISA assay to detect bound NF-κB p65 subunits. The figure clearly demonstrates changes in the levels of NF-κB activation showing a reduction of NF-κB activity following TAPI-1 treatment. Analysis of the nuclear extracts revealed that, after stimulation with exogenous soluble TNF-α, in anti-Ro/SSA Abs plus TAPI-1 treated cells, p65 is observed to translocate into the nucleus, demonstrating that the specific inhibitor of TACE blocks NF-κB activation and nuclear translocation preventing release of soluble form of TNF-α. Experiments were repeated four times with similar design and results.

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