Background Pro-inflammatory cytokines are recognized to have deleterious effects on Schwann cells (SCs). associated with antigen presentation (TAP) II molecules relevant for antigen processing and presentation. Conclusions IL-17 may act as a myelin-suppressive mediator in the peripheral nerve, directly propagating SC-mediated demyelination, paralleled by an inflammatory alignment of the SCs. Further analyses are warranted to elucidate the role of IL-17 during inflammation in the PNS and treated as indicated from the sixth day after explantation until fixation, followed by staining. Immunocytochemistry For immunocytochemistry, cells grown on glass cover slips were initially washed with phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) and fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA; Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) for 30?min for NF-L (neurofilament L) and 10?min for IL-17 receptor (IL-17R), following another washing step with PBS containing 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA; Sigma-Aldrich Corp., St. Louis, MO, USA). Samples were blocked using PBS-based blocking solution containing 10% (NF-L) or 4% (IL-17R) natural goat serum (NGS, DAKO, Hamburg, Germany) and 0.1% (NF-L) or 0.2% (IL-17R) Triton X-100 (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) for 30?min at RT. We used PI-103 primary antibodies against IL-17 receptor A (IL-17R A; Abcam, Cambridge, UK), IL-17 receptor B (IL-17R B; Abcam, Cambridge, UK), and rabbit anti-NF-L (Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA), each diluted 1:400. Furthermore, antibodies against MHCI (1:750, mouse monoclonal antibody; Novus Biologicals, Littleton, CO, USA), MHCII (1:50, mouse monoclonal antibody; AbD Serotec Kidlington, UK) and transporter associated with antigen presentation (TAP) II (1:200, rabbit polyclonal; Bioss, Woburn, MA, USA) were used. Primary antibodies were diluted in PBS, containing 0.1% Triton (0.05% for the MHCI antibody), 10% NGS, and for MHCII, an additional 0.25% BSA. Cells were incubated for 1?hour at 37C (overnight at 4C for NF-L). After three washing cycles with PBS, the secondary antibody was applied for 1?hour at RT. The following secondary antibodies were used: Alexa Fluor? 594 goat anti-rabbit, Alexa Fluor? 594 mouse anti-rabbit, Alexa Fluor? 594 goat anti-rabbit (Invitrogen Corp., Carlsbad, CA, USA), 1:200 diluted in PBS and 1% BSA (Sigma-Aldrich Corp., St. Louis, MO, USA) and for NF-L 1:400 diluted in antibody diluent, followed by three washing cycles with PBS. Samples were embedded in 4,6-diamidine-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) containing mounting medium (Vectashield?, Vector Laboratories Inc., Burlingame, CA, USA) and analyzed with an upright fluorescence microscope (Nikon Eclipse TE200, Nikon AG, Tokyo, Japan and Axioplan 2 Imaging, Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany). Real-time polymerase chain PI-103 reaction Total cellular RNA was extracted using an RNeasy? Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and quantified by NanoDrop-1000 (PEQLAB, Erlangen, Germany). Cells were washed twice with PBS and detached with buffer RLT. Total RNA (400?ng) was applied as matrix for cDNA synthesis using TaqMan? Reverse Transcription Reagents (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and High-Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) in accordance with the manufacturers protocol (10?min at 25C, 120?min at 37C, and 5?min at 85C). For subsequent real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) the thermal cycler (AbiPrism7000, Foster City, CA, USA) was set to run for 2?min at 50C, 10?min at 95C, 40?cycles at 95C for 15?sec, and 1?min at 60C. Power SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and TaqMan? Universal PCR Mastermix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) were used. cDNA was inserted for amplification at a final concentration of 0.6?M for each primer. rtPCR was followed by a melting curve analysis. Overall, the experiments were performed with the housekeeping genes 18S (rRNA probe dye, VIC-MGB, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) to calculate ??ct and shown as expression correlated to housekeeping gene and control expression [31]. cDNA was amplified with the following primers: for IL-17A, 5-TGG GAT CTG TCA TCG TGC T-3 and 5-ATC ACC ATG TTT CTC TTG ATC G-3; for IL-17B: 5-GGA CAG CCC TTC TTT GTC TG-3 and 5-TGC TTT TTA TAT TTC ATT ACG TGG TT-3; for IL-17C, 5-CCA CCC CAA CCT CTG TGT-3 and 5-CAA GGA GTC AGC CCA CGA-3; for P0, 5-ACC TTC AAG GAG CGC ATC C-3 and 5- GCC ATC CTT CCA GCT AGG PI-103 GT -3; for KROX-20, 5-CTG GGC AAA GGA CCT TGA TG-3 and 5-GTC CGT GAG PI-103 AAG GTG GGA CA-3. Four impartial experiments were performed, and for each experiment, three PCR runs, IGFBP1 each in triplicate, were analyzed. Sudan staining Cultures were stained with Sudan black dye to assess myelination [32]. Sudan.