Supernatants were collected and divided into aliquots, and the total protein concentration was determined using a BCA Protein Determination Kit (Thermo Scientific) following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Western blot was performed as previously described (37 (link)) using the following monoclonal antibodies: anti-CRP, anti-IL-6, anti-total-STAT3 (all Abcam), anti-phospho-STAT3 (Tyr705), anti-total-ERK, anti-phospho-ERK (Thr202/Tyr204), anti-total-AKT and anti-phosho-AKT (Ser473) (all Cell Signaling). The secondary antibody used was goat anti-rabbit (R&D Systems). Quantification of protein expression was performed using ImageJ (EHD imaging, Damme, Germany).