TNF and infection: We found that MO infection induced significant increase in transcriptional and translational levels of proinflammatory cytokine genes (IL-1β, IL-18, and TNF-α) in MH-S cells at the indicated timepoints (12 hpi, 24 hpi, and 36 hpi) (Figures 7 and 8), except for the IL-1β secretion in Z-IETD-FMK-treated cells at 12 hpi (Figure 8g) and the IL-18 secretion in NAC-treated cells at 12 hpi and 24 hpi (Figure 8h), implying a possible function of MO infection in inflammatory responses.