Chloroquine and Rapamycin Augment Interleukin-37 Expression via the LC3, ERK, and AP-1 Axis in the Presence of Lipopolysaccharides

Figure 3

Effect of chloroquine administration on IL-37 expression, CD4 proliferation, and activation in rhesus monkeys. (a) Relative fold expression of IL-37 mRNA at 0, 3, and 7 days post chloroquine treatment in four rhesus monkeys. Each sample was assayed in triplicate and the change folds were shown in (b) Plasma IL-37 levels of monkeys were quantified by ELISA in triplicate (). (c) Proportions of proliferating CD4+ T cells (Ki-67+CD4+CD3+) in peripheral blood at 0, 3, and 7 days post chloroquine treatment in monkeys. (d) Proportions of activated CD4+ T cells (CD38+HLA-DR+CD4+CD3+) in peripheral blood. (e) Spearman’s correlation analysis between IL-37 mRNA and proportion of Ki-67+CD4. (f) Contents of IL-37, STAT3, and phosphorylated STAT3 in PBMCs of monkeys before and 3 and 7 days post chloroquine treatment. The experiment was repeated twice and yielded similar results. The representative western blot images are shown, and the ratio of IL-37 to housekeeping gene (actin) and the ratio of phosphorylated STAT3/STAT3 are shown in columns. Spearman’s correlation analyses between (g) Ki-67+CD4 proportion or (h) IL-37 mRNA and phosphorylated STAT3 were also conducted and shown in graph.

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