Antibodies and reagents
Rabbit anti-CYLD (catalog #ab137524), rabbit anti-A20 (catalog #ab92324) and rabbit anti-OTULIN (catalog #ab151117) were purchased from Abcam (Cambridge, UK). Normal rabbit IgG (catalog #A7016) were purchased from Beyotime Biotechnology (Shanghai, China). Alexa Fluor 568 goat anti-rabbit IgG (catalog #A11036) was supplied by Thermo Fisher Scientific (Rockford, IL, USA). Tubulin rabbit polyclonal antibody (catalog #10094-1-AP) and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (catalog #SA00001-2) were supplied by Proteintech Group (Wuhan, China). Minimum essential medium alpha was supplied by Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou, China). Penicillin-streptomycin solution (catalog #SV30010) was supplied by HyClone (Austria). Fetal bovine serum (catalog #VS500T) was supplied by Ausbian (Australia). Immunohistochemistry application solutions kit (catalog #13079) was supplied by Cell Signaling Technologies (Danvers, MA, USA). DAPI (catalog #R37606) and ProLong Diamond Antifade Mountant (catalog #P36965) were supplied by Molecular Probes (Eugene, OR, USA). TNF-α (catalog #01375) was supplied by R&D Systems (Minneapolis, MN, USA). LPS (catalog #tlrl-pglps) was supplied by InvivoGen (San Diego, USA). RNA extraction kit (catalog #R6834-01) was from OMEGA Bio-Tek (Norcross, GA, USA). PrimeScript RT Master Mix kit (catalog #RR036A) and SYBR Premix Ex Taq Ⅱ kit (catalog #RR820A) were from Takara Bio Inc. (Otsu, Japan). BCA Protein Assay Kit (catalog #23227) was from Pierce Biotechnology (Rockford, IL, USA).
Gingival samples
Human gingival biopsy samples were acquired from 12 individuals (5 male and 7 female, average age of 28.7 y) undergoing crown-lengthening surgery. All individuals were selected from the First People’s Hospital of Lianyungang between March 2019 and August 2019. Informed consent forms were assigned by all individuals before they were enrolled in the research. This study was approved by The Ethics Committee of Nanjing Medical University (2018389). All experiments on human subjects were conducted in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Immunohistochemistry assay
Gingival samples were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 24 h at 4℃. Then these samples were processed to paraffin blocks and sectioned at 5 µm. Immunohistochemical study was undertaken as previously described using a commercial immunohistochemistry kit [4]. Anti-CYLD (1:400), anti-A20 (1:400) and anti-OTULIN (1:400,) antibodies were applied in this study. Nonimmunized IgG (1:400, Beyotime Biotechnology) was used as negative controls in the present study. Slices were photographed with a Leica DM4000 B microscope.
Cell culture
HGFs were isolated from human gingival tissues and cultured with an explant culture method. Briefly, gingival tissues were acquired from three healthy individuals (2 females and 1 male, aged 11-14 y) experiencing first premolar extractions for orthodontic therapy. The extracted teeth were placed in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and immediately transferred to the laboratory. Then the gingival tissues attached to the cervical region of the extracted teeth were removed and cut into small pieces in the biosafety cabinet. Afterwards, the tissue pieces were transferred to 25 cm2 culture flasks and cultured in minimum essential medium alpha supplemented with 15% fetal bovine serum. HGFs at passages 3 to 6 were used in this study.
Immunofluorescence staining
For Immunofluorescence Staining, HGFs were seed in 24-well culture plates with a coverslip at the bottom in a density of 2.5×104cells per well. After 24 h, HGFs were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 15 min, permeabilized with 0.2% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min, blocked with 1% BSA in PBS for 1 h at room temperature (RT). Then HGFs were incubated with primary antibodies against CYLD (1:200), A20 (1:200) and OTULIN (1:200) overnight at 4℃. Afterwards, HGFs were stained with Alexa Fluor 568-conjugated secondary antibody (4 μg/mL) for 50 min and then with DAPI for 6 min at RT. Each of the above-mentioned steps was followed by three 5-min washes in PBS. Finally, coverslips were mounted using ProLong Diamond Antifade Mountant and data were obtained by using a Leica DM4000 B microscope.
Cell stimulation
HGFs were seed in 6-well culture plates and cultured for 24 h. After washing twice with PBS, HGFs were starved for 12 h in α-MEM without foetal bovine serum. Then HGFs were stimulated with 1 μg/ml LPS or 10 ng/ml TNF-α as indicated.
RNA isolation and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
Total RNA was extracted from treated HGFs with an RNA extraction kit per the supplier’s protocol. cDNA synthesis was undertaken using a PrimeScript RT Master Mix kit. Then RT-PCR was carried out using a SYBR Premix Ex Taq Ⅱ kit on a 7300 Real Time PCR System. Each sample was run in triplicate. Results were normalized to GAPDH. Primers were: CYLD, 5ʼ-ACGCCACAATCTTCATCACACT-3’ (forward:) and 5ʼ-AGGTCGTGGTCAAGGTTTCACT-3’ (reverse); ; A20, 5’- ATGCACCGATACACACTGGA-3’ (forward) and 5’- GGATGATCTCCCGAAACTGA-3’ (reverse); OTULIN, 5’- AAAGAGGGGCATCAGAACCG-3’ (forward) and 5’- GGCCCTCAGTGCACAGTAAT-3’ (reverse); and GAPDH, 5’-TGCACCACCAACTGCTTAGC-3’ (forward) and 5’-GGCATGGA-CTGTGGTCATGAG-3’ (reverse).
Protein extraction and western blotting
For western blotting, pre-treated HGFs were lysed using RIPA lysis buffer containing protease inhibitors. The protein concentrations were determined with a BCA Protein Assay Kit. Then, the protein extracts were subjected to western blotting with antibodies to CYLD (1:1000), A20 (1:1000), OTULIN (1:400), and Tubulin (1:1000). Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (1:8000) was applied. Densitometry quantification of the protein bands was processed with ImageJ software.
Statistical analysis
Data are expressed as the mean ±SD. ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparison test was used to determine the significance of differences. GraphPad Prism 5 was used to perform statistical analyses. Differences were considered to be significant when p <0.05.