Fig. 6

Detection of TLR3 in the serum-derived exosome protein. (a) TLR3 was detected by 2DE-WB from the exosomal protein sample mixture from 4 aRA patients (aRA 1, 6, 10, and 11) with a relatively high ID564 intensity. Arrowheads, TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa). (b) (i) The TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa) in the exosomal protein samples described in (a) were detected by 1DE-WB. (ii) The TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa) in the exosomal protein samples from the HLs (n = 10) and patients with aRA (n = 12), iRA (n = 11), and OA (n = 10) were detected by 1DE-WB. (iii) The intensity of the bands was measured using a densitometer. The intensity of the blank area in each membrane was defined as 1.0. The obtained relative expression of the TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa) was compared among the 4 groups. The dotted line indicates the mean + 2.5SD of the band intensity in the HL group. The intensity of the TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa) was higher in 6 of the 12 aRA samples, 5 of the 11 iRA samples, and 1 of the 10 OA samples than the mean of that in HL groups + 2.5SD (filled circles). The ratios of samples with a high intensity of TLR3 fragments (17–18 kDa) were significantly higher in the aRA and iRA groups than in the HL group. * p < 0.05