Fig. 6

Effects of the PNU agonist on activated MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways and mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines in DSS-induced colitis. Experimental colitis was induced by 3% DSS. A Total colon tissue protein was extracted to measure the expression of NF-κB and MAPK signaling proteins by Western blot with antibodies specific for IKBα, p-IKBα, p-ERK, p-JNK and p-P38. The housekeeping gene GAPDH was used as a protein loading control; B Mouse colon mRNA was extracted to determine the mRNA abundance of TNFα, IL6 and IL1β by RT–qPCR. The mRNA expression levels of the cytokines in the mice that received various treatments were normalized to the levels in control mice, which were set as 1. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; C The expression levels of NF-κB and p-STAT3 were examined by immunohistochemistry. Scale bar: 100 μm