Cldn2 levels in epithelial cells.

HT-29 cells, T84 cells and MDCK cells were exposed to CRF (0–20 ng/ml; indicated on the X axis) for 24 h. The bars indicate the levels of Cldn2 mRNA (A) and protein (B–D) in epithelial cell extracts. ERKanta: Cells were pretreated with ERK1/2 inhibitor (PD98059, 50 µM). DEM: Cells were pretreated with NF-κB inhibitor, diethyl maleate (DEM; 100 µM) for 30 min, and then treated with CRF. #: Cells were not treated with LPS. TLR4 gene (or TLR4con): Cells were transfected with TLR4 gene plasmid (or control plasmid); these cells were not treated with CRF. The immune blots of panel B–D indicate the levels of Cldn2 in gut epithelial cell extracts. The table above the immune blots indicate the integrated density of the immune blots. The data were presented as mean ± SD. *, p<0.01, compared with the “0” group. The data represent 5 separate experiments.