Fig 2: Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression levels of NF-κBp65 and TRAF6, FN and CTGF in the cytoplasm. A, con-shRNA; B, con-shRNA + BAFF; C, con-shRNA + BAFF + BAFF-RFc chimera protein; D, TRAF6-shRNA; E, TRAF6-shRNA + BAFF. *P<0.05 vs. group A; #P<0.05 vs. group B. BAFF, B cell-activating factor; BAFF-R, BAFF receptor; CTGF, connective tissue growth factor; FN, fibronectin; p-, phosphorylated; TRAF, tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; con-, control.

Fig 3: Western blot analysis to detect the protein expression levels of TRAF6, p-NF-κBP65, FN and CTGF in glomerular mesangial cells. A, con-shRNA; B, con-shRNA + BAFF; C, con-shRNA + BAFF + BAFF-RFc chimera protein; D, TRAF6-shRNA; E, TRAF6-shRNA + BAFF. *P<0.05 vs. group A; #P<0.05 vs. group B. BAFF, B cell-activating factor; BAFF-R, BAFF receptor; CTGF, connective tissue growth factor; FN, fibronectin; p-, phosphorylated; TRAF, tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; con-, control.

Fig 4: The expression sites of BAFF-R (a, × 400) were highly overlapping compared with CD19 (b, × 400)

Fig 5: Expression of BAFF-R in mesangial cells. The presence of BAFF-R on the surface of human mesangial cells was detected using the BAFF-R antibody by flow cytometry. Rat Ig at the same concentration was used as a negative control. Western blotting was performed to detect BAFF-R expression in mesangial cells and was significantly increased when stimulated with BAFF (P=0.032). *P<0.05. BAFF, B cell-activating factor; BAFF-R, BAFF receptor.