Regulatory T Cells Protect Fine Particulate Matter-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Figure 9

The mechanisms of Tregs-mediated suppression of HUVECs exposed to PM. HUVECs were cultured without T cells (no T) or with Tregs in the presence of anti-CD3 mAbs in either a coculture (CC) or a TW system. After 48 hours of culture, the inserts were removed and HUVECs in the lower well were stimulated with PM. In some experiments, IL-10, TGF-β1, IL-10 + TGF-β1, or isotype mAbs was added to the lower well. The adhesion molecules and cytokines were detected by flow cytometry and Elisa. (a) The concentrations of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in the supernatants from different groups. Data are expressed as means ± SEM of 3 independent experiments. ^∗𝑃<0.01. (b) Dot plots showing the percentages of VCAM-1 expression in HUVECs. (c) The VCAM-1 expression in different groups of HUVECs. (d) The concentration of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, IL-6, and IL-8 in the supernatants from different groups of HUVECs. Data are expressed as means ± SEM of 4 independent experiments. ∗ indicates CC or TW versus no T; # indicates TW versus CC; $ indicates versus TW; ^& indicates isotype versus TW. ^∗𝑃<0.05, ^∗∗𝑃<0.01, ^#𝑃<0.05, ^##𝑃<0.01, ^$𝑃<0.05, ^$$𝑃<0.01, and ^&𝑃>0.05.

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