Figure 4

PC inhibits pro-inflammatory gene transcription from both the apical and basolateral sides of polarised Caco-2 cells. Polarised Caco-2 cells were grown in a 12-transwell system and stimulated with TNF-α (50 ng/mL) from the basolateral side to induce an up-regulation of several genes (IL-8, IP-10, and MMP-1) involved in inflammation (TNF-α). Both basolateral (+TNF-α +PC bl) and apical (+TNF-α +PC ap) treatments with 200 μmol of PC 16:0/16:0 (1, 2-dipalmitoyl-glycero-3-PC) resulted in a significant reduction in the TNF-α-induced up-regulation. Asterisks assign statistically different values from Tukey's post hoc test of TNF-α to all other values at each time point (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001); At no time point could a significant difference of +TNF-α +PC ap and +TNF-α +PC bl be detected; crosses indicate significant differences of control compared to both +TNF-α and +TNFα +PC at each time point (+ p < 0.05; ++ p < 0.01; +++ p < 0.001).