LPS from Escherichia coli 055:B5 was from Sigma Aldrich. Poly A:U, poly I:C (low molecular weight), or R848 were from InvivoGen. Neutralizing experiments were done using a blocking IFN-β antibody and human soluble recombinant TLR3 (Preprotech). The cationic polymer PEI (cat N 23966) was purchased from Polysciences. The human recombinant IFN-β used as a standard was from Peprotech. The human lung carcinoma cell line A549, the prostate carcinoma cell line DU145, and melanoma cell line B16 learn more were obtained from ATCC and authenticated by isoenzymology and/or the Cytochrome C subunit I PCR assay. They were periodically cultured in our laboratory for the last 10

and 5 years, respectively. All cell lines were free of Mycoplasma infection tested by PCR every 6 months. A549 and DU145 cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies) supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 2 mM l-glutamine,

100 U/mL penicillin, and 100 μg/mL streptomycin (Life Technologies). We complexed poly A:U to polyethylenimine (PEI-PAU) and poly A:U or Pritelivir molecular weight poly I:C to Lipo-2000 (Invitrogen) (Lipo-PAU, Lipo-PIC) to enhance its intracellular uptake [51]. A549 and DU145 cells were stimulated with Lipo-PIC (0.1 μg/mL) and B16 cells were stimulated with PEI-PAU (PAU-B16) or Lipo-PAU (1 μg/mL). For stimulation purposes, complexes were added to the cells under serum-free conditions. Control cells were exposed to Lipo-2000 or PEI in the absence of nucleic acids. After 4 h of culture, cells were washed twice with PBS

and fresh culture medium was added. Addition of Lipo-2000 or PEI to the cells was considered the initial time of incubation (time 0). To obtain the CM, cells were seeded at 2 × 106 cells/100-mm dish and cultivated for 24 h with culture medium. Then, cells were cultured with Lipo-PIC for 4 h, washed three times with PBS, and incubated for an additional 20 h. Culture supernatants were then harvested and filtered through a 0.22 μm membrane (PIC-CM). Nonstimulated or Lipo-2000-stimulated cell culture supernatants were also collected (CM). RNA isolation was performed using the TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen). cDNA was prepared using an oligo(dT) primer and reverse transcriptase check details (Promega) following standard protocols. cDNA samples were then amplified in SYBER green universal PCR master mix buffer (Applied Biosystems) using gene-specific primers pairs (Sigma) to analyze mRNA levels for TLR3, RIG-1, MDA5, IFNb1, CXCL10, TNF, and IL1b. cDNA samples were amplified in triplicate with a 7500 Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems) [52]. For each sample, mRNA abundance was normalized to the amount of β-actin and is presented in arbitrary units. The presence of type I IFN in the CMs were evaluated using the HEK IFN-α/β reporter cell system (Invivogen) following the manufacturer’s instructions.