RESUMO
AIM:To explore the effect of Toll-like receptor ( TLR) 2 and TLR4 in Mycobacterium bovis Bacil-lus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-induced human proximal renal tubule epithelial cell (HK-2) injury.METHODS:HK-2 cells were stimulated by BCG, and the expression of TLR2, TLR4, chemokine (C-X3-C motif) ligand 1 (CX3CL1) and trans-forming growth factor beta 1 ( TGF-β1 ) was detected by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting .TLR2 monoclonal antibody and TLR4 inhibitor were used to treat the HK-2 cells 1 h before BCG stimulation.The expression of CX3CL1 and TGF-β1 was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting .RESULTS: BCG increased the expression of TLR2, TLR4, CX3CL1 and TGF-β1 in the HK-2 cells.Additionally, the expression of CX3CL1 and TGF-β1 was inhibited partly by TLR2 monoclonal antibody or TLR4 inhibitor.CONCLUSION:BCG is able to increase the production of TLR 2, TLR4, CX3CL1 and TGF-β1 in the HK-2 cells.TLR2 and TLR4 signaling pathways play important roles in tubule epitheli-al cell injury induced by BCG .