TWEAK induced canonical NF-κB pathway activation then augmented MMP9 expression in LX-2 cells.

<p>(A) Whole cell extracts were prepared and analyzed by western blotting for the p-IκBα, IκBα and p-p65, p65 in LX-2 cells treated with 40 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml TWEAK for 24 h. β-actin served as an internal control. (B) The expression of p65 in LX-2 cells transfected with scrambled RNA (20 nM) or siRNA specific for p65 (20 nM) was examined by qRT-PCR (B) and western blotting (C). β-actin served as an internal control. (D) LX-2 cells were transfected with control siRNA (20nM) or siRNA specific for p65 (20nM) for 48 h and further incubated with TWEAK (100 ng/ml) for 24 h. The protein of p65, p-p65 and MMP9 in cell lysates were measured by western blotting. β-actin was used as a loading control. All data are represented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ****<i>P<</i>0.0001.