Figure 4. The AMPK pathway is involved in visfatin-induced ICAM-1 synthesis and monocyte adhesion. (A–C) OASFs were pretreated with AMPK inhibitors (Ara A, compound C) or transfected with AMPK siRNAs, then incubated with visfatin for 24 h. ICAM-1 levels were examined by RT-qPCR, Western blot and ELISA assays. (D) OASFs were treated with the same conditions as those described in (A). THP-1 cells loaded with BCECF-AM were added to OASFs for 6 h, then THP-1 cell adherence was measured by fluorescence microscopy. (E) OASFs were incubated with visfatin for the indicated time intervals, and AMPK phosphorylation was examined by Western blot. * p<0.05 compared with the control group; # p<0.05 compared with the visfatin-treated group.