Components of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade are activated in hepatic cells by Echinococcus multilocularis metacestode

Figure 3 Time course of EmF- or EmCM- induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 kinase. Primary cultures of rat hepatocytes were stimulated with EmF (A, B) or EmCM (C, D) and harvested at the indicated time points (15 min to 24 h). Western immunoblot analyses were performed on lysates with antibodies that recognize phosphorylated (p-) and total ERK1/2 (A, C), respectively. Relative amount of phosphorylated to total ERK1/2 and ERK1/2 was calculated from semi-quantitative analysis of the Western blotting using densitometry (B, D). ^aP < 0.05, EmF or EmCM-induced versus control hepatocytes. All experiments were performed three times independently with similar results.