pCX-TRI-2A transfected cells are protected against TNF-α-induced cytotoxicity.

<p>WT cells and transfected cell lines were incubated with 50 ng/ml TNF-α for 24 h (<b>A</b>) and 48 h (<b>B</b>) alone or in combination with 20 μM hemin and/or 200 μM ATP. Cytotoxicity was assessed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and expressed as follows: relative cytotoxicity (%) = [(<i>A</i> e − <i>A</i> c) / (<i>A</i> b − <i>A</i> c)] × 100 (%), where ‘<i>A</i> e’ is the experimental absorbance, ‘<i>A</i> b’ is the absorbance of lysed controls and ‘<i>A</i> c’ is the absorbance of untreated controls. The data are expressed as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. [#] indicates significant difference between pCX-TRI-2A and all the other groups, except for pCX-hHO1, within the same treatment (ANOVA, <i>p</i><0.05). [*] indicates significant difference between pCX-TRI-2A and all the other groups within the same treatment (ANOVA, <i>p</i><0.05); [ϕ] indicates a significant difference between single gene-transfected cells and WT/mock within the same treatment (ANOVA, <i>p</i><0.05); [a] indicates significant difference as compared to TNF-α treatment alone within the same cell type (ANOVA, <i>p</i><0.05); [b] indicates a significant difference as compared to TNF-α + hemin treatment within the same cell type (ANOVA, <i>p</i><0.05).