Fig. 6

Cn and HIV-1 gp41 enhanced expression of CD44 and ICAM-1 on the HBMEC. Western blotting analyses were performed to measure the up-regulating effect of CD44 (a, c) and ICAM-1 (b) on HBMEC or KD-CD44 HBMEC following exposure to Cn and/or HIV-1 gp41. The β-actin was used as a loading control for each sample. Results showed a significant increase in the CD44/β-actin optical density ratio (P < 0.01compared with control). Expression of ICAM-1 (d) and CD44 (e) was analyzed by BA-ELISAs. Assays were performed in triplicates. Results were expressed as an n-fold increase of protein expression, taking the control as 1. The significant differences between the treatment and control were marked with asterisks (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001)