DA-9601, a standardized extract of Artemisia asiatica, blocks TNF-α-induced IL-8 and CCL20 production by inhibiting p38 kinase and NF-κB pathways in human gastric epithelial cells

Figure 3 DA-9601 blocks IL-8 and CCL20 promoter activities in HEK293T and AGS cells. HEK293T (left) and AGS (right) cells were transfected with pGL3-pIL-8 (A) or pGL3-pCCL20 (B) luciferase vectors. After 24 h of incubation, cells (1 x 10⁵) were pre-treated for 1 h with DA-9601 (50 μg/mL) and stimulated for additional 16 h with medium alone or medium containing TNF-α (5 ng/mL). At the end of incubation, cells were lysed, and the relative luciferase activity was measured using Luciferase Assay System. Results are expressed as means ± SD of three independent experiments.