<p><i>(A-B)</i> Control or MKP-2 overexpressing RAW264.7 (1x10<sup>5</sup>) and differentiated 3T3-L1 cells were cultured either alone or together and stimulated with or without 750μM palmitate overnight. IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 levels in the supernatants were determined by ELISA. Cytokine production was normalized to total protein of the cell lysates. mRNA of each sample was harvested to examine <i>Mkp-2</i> expression by qRT-PCR. Ct, control; Co, co-culture. <i>(C)</i> Control and MKP-2 overexpressing RAW264.7 cells were treated with conditioned medium (CM) derived from 3T3-L1 adipocytes treated with BSA (CM-B) or 750μM FFA (CM-F) for 24 h. Regular media containing BSA (RM-B) or 750μM FFA (RM-F) were used as control. Supernatants were harvested for ELISA analysis. <i>(D)</i> CM derived from vector transfected or MKP-2 overexpressing RAW264.7 treated with BSA or 750μM FFA were used to treat 3T3-L1 adipocytes for 24 h. Regular media containing BSA or 750μM FFA were used as control. Supernatants were harvested for ELISA analysis. RM, regular media; CM-pcDNA3.1, conditioned media derived from pcDNA3.1-transfected RAW264.7; CM-MKP-2, conditioned media derived from MKP-2 transfected RAW264.7. Data shown are representative of three independent experiments with similar results. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *, p<0.05; **, p<0.01; ***, p<0.001.</p
