Figure 4

Role of p38 MAPK on CD40L induced cytokine secretion in DC of different maturation status. Wildtype BMDC were primed with B. vulgatus mpk or LPS 1 ng/ml to obtain semimature DC and E. coli mpk or LPS 1 μg/ml, respectively, to obtain mature DC. Immature DC were maintained by incubation in the absence of further stimuli (PBS). Subsequently, the DC were washed and treated with the p38 inhibitor SB202190 (2 μmol/l, black bars) or as a control with DMSO (grey bars) for 30 minutes, washed and re-stimulated with 1 μg/ml anti-CD40 mAb (+) or the isotype control (−). After 24 hours, the concentrations of IL-12p40 (A), IL-12p70 (B) and IL-6 (C) were measured in the cell culture supernatants by ELISA. The bars represent the mean values of three independent experiments, each performed as duplicate, ± SD. * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001 for SB202190 compared to DMSO.