Figure 4. Nanoceria do not change the mRNA or protein levels of inflammatory cytokines. A-D: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of the mRNA levels of acute and chronic inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α; A), interleukin 1β (IL-1β; B), IL-6 (C), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF; D) at the PI7 h. Injection of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) was used as a positive control. Uninjected and saline -injected wild-type (WT) mice served as the negative uninjected and the injected controls, respectively. No statistically significant differences in gene expression were seen among the groups of uninjected, saline-injected, and any of the nanoceria-injected groups. n = 3–8 eyes per group, **p<0.005, ***p<0.0001. E-H: Western blot assay to evaluate the protein levels of TNF-α (F), IL-1β (G), IL-6, and MIF (H) at PI7 h. Compared to the uninjected WT mice, the LPS-injected mice have two to four fold higher (n = 3–5 eyes per group, *p<0.05, ***p<0.0001) expression of these cytokines (E). However, none of the nanoceria- and saline-injected groups showed changes in the protein levels of these genes, and no statistically significant differences were seen among the groups. n = 3–5 eyes per group.