Figure 4

HBcAg up-regulate IL-17 and IL-6R expression by CD4 T cells in vitro. PBMCs from CHB patients (n = 8) were cultured in medium alone, or in the presence of HBcAg (10 μg/ml) or LPS (1 μg/ml). Relative IL-6R (A) and IL-17(B) mRNA expression of CD4 T cells purified from cultured cells harvested at indicated time after incubation were determined by real-time RT-PCR; (C) the percentage of IL-6R expression on CD4 T cells in cultured cells collected at indicated time after incubation were determined by flow cytometry; (D) IL-17 production in culture supernatants harvested at 48 hours after incubation was measured by ELISA. (E) Modulation of IL-6R expression on CD4 T cells after incubation with HBcAg for 24 hours and (F) IL-17 production after incubation with HBcAg for 48 hours in CHB patients (n = 8) and HD (n = 8). The percentage of increase of IL-6R on CD4 T cells was calculated by dividing the frequencies of IL-6R expressing CD4 cells determined by flow cytometry cultured in medium alone with those cultured in the presence of HBcAg. Similar formulation was used to calculate the percentage of increase of IL-17 production measured by ELISA in culture supernatant. *, P < 0.05; **, p < 0.01, ***, P < 0.001; the bars represent means with standard deviations. Horizontal bars represent the median values.