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Poly-l-Arginine Acts Synergistically with LPS to Promote the Release of IL-6 and IL-8 via p38/ERK Signaling Pathways in NCI-H292 Cells

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Abstract

Major basic protein (MBP) derived from activated eosinophil can exacerbate atopic asthma induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The pharmacological function of MBP can be mimicked by poly-l-arginine (PLA), however, the potential signaling mechanisms of LPS-PLA-induced release of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 remain unclear. In the present study, airway epithelia NCI-H292 cell lines were treated with LPS and/or PLA. We found that the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 induced by LPS-PLA were increased significantly compared with that in untreated cells. Meanwhile, the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 was also up-regulated dramatically by LPS-PLA, but this increase could be blocked by specific inhibitor. Importantly, blocking the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 reduced the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 as well. Collectively, LPS-PLA-induced release of IL-6 and IL-8 from NCI-H292 cells may be due to the synergistic activation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 signaling transduction pathways.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81100027), Colleges and Universities Provincial Natural Science Research Project of Anhui (No KJ2011A176), Doctoral Initial Fund of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Academic and Scientific Research Activities of the Academic and Technical Leaders and Candidates of Anhui Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Correspondence to Xiao-Yun Fan.

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Xiao-Yun Fan and Bing Chen contributed equally to this work.

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Fan, XY., Chen, B., Lu, ZS. et al. Poly-l-Arginine Acts Synergistically with LPS to Promote the Release of IL-6 and IL-8 via p38/ERK Signaling Pathways in NCI-H292 Cells. Inflammation 39, 47–53 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-015-0221-2

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