It has been determined that nearly 95% of the fluorescent

It has been determined that nearly 95% of the fluorescent

dye was retained in the cytoplasm. Fluorescent images of Ca2+ were obtained using Olympus 1000 confocal microscope with 40 ×  oil immersion Epigenetics inhibitor lens (NA 1.3; Olympus, Japan). Fluo-4 signal was excited at 488-nm and emitted at >505 nm. Frame-scan images were acquired at sampling rate of 15 ms per frame and 20 s per interval. Image data were analysed offline using FV10-ASW 2.1 software (Olympus, Japan). A selected image from each image set was used as a template for designating the region of interest (ROI) within each cell. The integrated intracellular Ca2+ concentration was determined by calculating ΔF/F0. F0 was defined as the mean basal fluorescence intensity of the dye recorded during the first 5–10 scanning frames, when the cells were under rest conditions. ΔF denotes (F−F0), where F is the temporal fluorescence intensity. The ΔF/F0 values within each ROI were plotted as a function of time (see Fig. 5 for typical time-courses of Ca2+ response to thapsigargin or DNP-BSA stimulation in single RBL-2H3 cell). The amplitude of the Ca2+ response within each cell was quantified

as the highest ΔF/F0 level reached during the measurement period, which was averaged over all cells within each group. Total RNAs were extracted from RPMCs using TRIzol Reagent (Invitrogen, CA, USA) according to manufacturer’s instructions. Reverse Transcription was conducted in a 20 μl reaction mixture (ReverTra-Plus-RT-PCR Kit, Toyobo), and cDNA was synthesized from 2 μg BTK inhibitor supplier of total RNA. The prepared cDNA was further analysed for gene expression by real-time RT-PCR with gene-specific primers. The primer sequences for different genes were as follows: Orai1: forward, 5′- ACGTCCACAACCTCAACTCC -3′; reverse, 5′- GGTATTCTGCCTGGCTGTCA -3′. STIM1: forward, 5′- GGCCAGAGTCTCAGCCATAG -3′; reverse, 5′- TAG TCGCACCTCCTGGATAC -3′. TLR4: Branched chain aminotransferase forward, 5′-TGC TCAGACATGGCAGTTTC-3′; reverse, 5′-TCAAGGCTT TTCCATCCAAC-3′. GAPDH: forward, 5′- TCACCATC TTCCAGGAGCGA -3′; reverse, 5′-TGCTGGTGAAGCC GTAACAC-3′. Real-time PCR was performed using Bio-Rad SsoFast™ EvaGreen®Supermix

(Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Hercules, CA, USA) with the following cycling conditions: 5 min at 94 °C, followed by 45 cycles of 94 °C for 30 s, 54.3 °C for 30 s and 72 °C for 45 s. RNA abundance was expressed as △△Ct, and the fluorescence signals of target gene expression were normalized to that of the internal control (GAPDH). Total cell lysates were extracted from RPMCs by Laemmli buffer. Equal amount of proteins were loaded, separated on 10% SDS-PAGE before being transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes, and then probed with primary antibody: anti-Orai1 (1:1000, Abcam, UK), anti-STIM1 (1:1000, Abcam, UK) and anti-GAPDH (1:1500, Abcam, UK). The membranes were washed for three times and incubated with corresponding secondary antibodies at room temperature for 1 h.

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