Coculture with Late, but Not Early, Human Endothelial Progenitor Cells Up Regulates IL-1β Expression in THP-1 Monocytic Cells in a Paracrine Manner
Figure 3
Late human EPCs augmented IL-1β expression through a paracrine pathway. THP-1 cells were cultured in the presence of late EPC conditioned medium (CM) with early EPC CM serving as control, and then IL-1β mRNA levels in THP-1 cells were determined by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that late EPC CM was able to partly elevate IL-1β mRNA levels (a). THP-1 cells were preincubated with a blocking antibody against integrin β2 followed by coculture with late EPCs, which however did not abolish the effect of late EPC stimulated IL-1β mRNA increase (b). * (), compared to THP-1 cells treated with early EPC CM. eEPC: early EPC; LEPC: late EPC.
