*2.1. Chemicals*

RPMI, chicken egg white albumin, and LPS were obtained from the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical (St. Louis, MO, USA), as were all other reagents, unless specifically stated elsewhere. Fetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillin-streptomycin, and trypsin-EDTA were purchased from the Lonza (Walkersville, MD, USA). Rabbit polyclonal antibodies of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-12 and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, goa<sup>t</sup> polyclonal cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 antibody, and mouse monoclonal inducible NOS (iNOS) antibody were purchased from the Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Dallas, TX, USA). Mouse monoclonal antibodies of bcl-2 and bax were provided by BD Transduction Laboratories (Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA). Rabbit polyclonal antibodies of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, phospho-p53, inhibitory κB (IκB), and phospho-Iκ<sup>B</sup> were obtained from Cell Signaling Technology (Beverly, MA, USA). Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated goa<sup>t</sup> anti-rabbit IgG, donkey anti-goat IgG, and goa<sup>t</sup> anti-mouse IgG were purchased from Jackson Immuno-Research Laboratories (West Grove, PA, USA). Mouse monoclonal β-actin antibody was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Chemicals. Essential fatty acid free bovine serum albumin (BSA) and skim milk were supplied by Becton Dickinson Company (Sparks, MD, USA). 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) was obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology.
