The role of IkappaBalpha in TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in hepatic stellate cell line HSC-T6.

To investigate the role of NF-kappaB in TNF-alpha induced apoptosis in HSC-T6, a mutant IkappaBalpha was transfected into HSC-T6 cells by lipofectin transfection technique and its transient effect was examined 48 h after the transfection. The activation of NF-kappaB was detected by immune fluorescence cytochemistry and Western blotting with anti-p65 antibody. The apoptosis and the rate of inhibition by TNF-alpha in both transfected and untransfected HSC-T6 cells were measured respectively by FAC-Scan side scatter analysis and MTT methods.