Methyl Protodioscin from the Roots of Asparagus cochinchinensis Attenuates Airway Inflammation by Inhibiting Cytokine Production

Figure 3

Cellular mechanisms of inhibition of IL-6 production by Asparagus radix (ACE) and methyl protodioscin (MP) in A549 cells. (a) Time course study of MAPK activation. (b) Effects of ACE and MP on MAPK activation. (c) Effects of ACE and MP on the activation of transcription factors. (d) Effects of SP600125 (JNK inhibitor) on IL-6 production and signal transduction molecules. The IL-6 concentration of the IL-1β-treated group was 1.0 ± 0.15 ng/mL while the baseline level was 0.0 ± 0.0 ng/mL. No cytotoxic action of SP600125 was observed at the concentrations examined by MTT assay. All blots are the results of Western blotting analysis. One representative result from three separate experiments in blotting studies was represented here. , , and , significantly different from the IL-1β-treated group ().

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