All samples were subjected to Western blotting analysis for the appropriate validations. Briefly, SDS-PAGE was blocked in 5% BSA-TBS (TBS, 20 mM Tris–HCl and 150 mNaCl, pH 7.5) and immunoblotted with anti-human monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies specific for IL-8, IL- 6, and MIP3β (respectively, MAB208, MAB206, and AF361; all from R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA), and regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted protein (RANTES; ab-9679; Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA). Antibodies were diluted in 0.5% TX-TBS at 0.1–1 μg/mL final concentration. The labeling step with species-specific POD-conjugated antibodies (at least 1:10000; raised in donkey; Jackson ImmunoResearch Europe Ltd, Suffolk, UK) and the developing steps with ECL-based chemiluminescence kit (West Femto Sensitivity Substrate; Pierce, Rockford, IL) were performed according to standard procedures. An immunoblot-specific signal was acquired with the 1D Image Station Analyser (Kodak, Tokyo, Japan). Data were saved as 8-bit TIFF files and exported to be shown after Adobe Photoshop CS3 assembly (Adobe Systems, Inc.). For IL-8, ELISA also was performed according to manufacturer's instructions (DY208 duo-set ELISA kit; R&D Systems).