Figure 2.

S. pneumoniae induced JNK-dependent IL-8 and IL-6 release by human lung epithelial cells. (A) BEAS-2B cells were infected with 10⁶ cfu/ml S. pneumoniae R6x for the times and JNK2 phosphorylation was detected by Western blot. A representative of three independent experiments is shown and quantification of all three experiments is given. (B/D) BEAS-2B cells were preincubated with the indicated concentrations of JNK inhibitor SP600125 and then infected with 10⁶ cfu/ml S. pneumoniae R6x for 15 h. IL-8 (B) and IL-6 (D) concentrations were measured in the supernatant. *, p < 0.01 vs. control; #, p < 0.01 vs. infected cells without pre-incubation with inhibitors in three independent experiments. (C) BEAS-2B cells were preincubated with the indicated concentrations of JNK inhibitor SP600125 and then infected with 10⁶ cfu/ml S. pneumoniae R6x for 3 h. IL-8 and GAPDH mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. Representative gels of three independent experiments are shown.