Research Article

Papain Ameliorates the MPAs Formation-Mediated Activation of Monocytes by Inhibiting Cox-2 Expression via Regulating the MAPKs and PI3K/Akt Signal Pathway

Figure 5

Investigation of signaling pathway involved in the papain-mediated improvement of monocytes activation initiated by MPAs formation. (a) Western blotting assay was performed in cocultured system of THP-1 cells and activated platelets by primary antibodies against phosphorylated ERK, p38, JNK, and Akt and the levels of ERK, p38, JNK, Akt, and Cox-2. β-actin served as the internal control. (b) Results of quantitative analysis of protein expression of Cox-2/β-actin, p-Akt/Akt, p-JNK/JNK, p-ERK/ERK, and p-p38/p38. K-S test showed that data were in normal distribution in all groups (P>0.05). indicates thrombin-induced group versus control group. # indicates papain and thrombin-induced or NS-398-treated group versus only thrombin-induced group. indicates papain+TNF-α-treated group versus papain or NS-398-treated groups. p<0.01, ##p<0.01, p<0.01.
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