Figure 8

Effect of N-acetyl cysteine on the IKK/NF-κB pathway in human neutrophils. (A) Neutrophils were pretreated with culture medium containing 20 mM N-acetyl cysteine ("NAC") or diluent control for 30 min at 37°C, and further incubated in the absence ("ctrl") or presence of 100 ng/ml LPS or 100 U/ml TNFα. Samples were then processed for SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analysis. Note: actin and IκB are shown on the same blot, as the membrane was first immunoblotted for IκB-α, and then re-blotted for actin. (B) Neutrophils were pretreated with N-acetyl cysteine or diluent as described above, and further incubated in the absence or presence of 100 ng/ml LPS or 100 U/ml TNFα. Nuclear extracts were then prepared and analyzed in EMSA using a NF-κB oligonucleotide probe. The experiments depicted are representative of at least two.