The First Trimester Gravid Serum Regulates Procalcitonin Expression in Human Macrophages Skewing Their Phenotype In Vitro
Figure 1
Human macrophages express PCT at mRNA and protein level. (a) Immunofluorescence analysis of human macrophages differentiated from PBMCs. Cells were stained with mAb anti-human CD68. DAPI nuclear staining is shown in blue. Original magnification 63x. (b) Levels of PCT secreted in the cell supernatant by cultured macrophages after 24 hours of stimulation with LPS. Data from 5 independent experiments are shown and no statistical significance has been found between treated and untreated cells. (c) RNA prepared from fully differentiated human macrophages, untreated or stimulated with LPS for 3 and 24 hours, were quantified for PCT and 18S expression by qPCR. Data from 5 independent experiments are shown and represent the mean ± S.E.M. (Mann-Whitney test). (d) Double Immunofluorescence analysis of human macrophages for PCT (green) and CD68 (red) expression. Overlay images show the PCT localized throughout the cytoplasm. DAPI nuclear staining is shown in blue. Original magnification 20x (upper panels) and 63x (lower panels). Images were acquired with Leica DM3000 microscope.
