Plasmid encoded protein (Pet), a product of E. coli, infiltrates leukocyte in experimental models and acts on macrophages as a chemokine. As an immune response orchestrator, macrophages play an important role in inducing proinflammatory cytokines. In this work, we tested whether in macrophages Pet stimulates the expression of IL1, TNF , MIF and the antagonist IL1Ra. We also sought the IKK /NF B pathway as a possible mediator. We found that indeed Pet increases the mRNA of inflammatory cytokines

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... and the antagonist IL1Ra with different rates and kinetics through the IKK /NF B pathway, which could be consistent as a factor in chronic inflammation. © Benítez-Guzmán et al.; Licensee Bentham Open. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.