High-Salt Enhances the Inflammatory Response by Retina Pigment Epithelium Cells following Lipopolysaccharide Stimulation

Figure 4

NaCl enhanced the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, Akt, and NF-κB but had no influence on the phosphorylation of JNK and ERK1/2 in ARPE-19 cells. ARPE-19 cells were cultured with LPS and different additions (20 mM or 40 mM) of NaCl for 20 min. The levels of intracellular phosphorylated signaling molecules in permeabilized ARPE-19 cells were measured by flow cytometry. The data showed the MFI of p38 MAPK ((a) ), Akt ((b) ), NF-κB ((c) ), JNK ((d) ), and ERK1/2 ((e) ). The results are expressed as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) ± SD of three independent experiments. and compared to the control. All results are analyzed following three separate experiments. Paired-samples t-test (when the difference between the two tested groups conforms to normal distribution) or Wilcoxon matched-pairs test (when the difference between the two tested groups does not conform to normal distribution) was used for statistical analyses for LPS control versus LPS + 20 mM NaCl or LPS + 40 mM NaCl in each group.

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