Fig. 3

Ethyl pyruvate inhibits NLRP3 agonists-induced inflammasome activation in mouse microglia. a The expression of NLRP3 in hippocampus were assessed by Western-blot (b) mouse microglia were primed with ultra-pure LPS (100 ng/ml) for 3 h in the presence or the absence of EP (10 mM), and then stimulated with nigericin (10 μM) for 30 min. The release of IL-1β in supernatants and expression of NLRP3 in cell were assessed by Western-blot. c Levels of IL-1β in the culture medium were determined by ELISA. Data presented as mean ± SEM (n = 3 independent repeats/ group) and compared by one-way ANOVA and post-hoc test, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. d immunofluorescence of ASC speck in LPS-primed microglia after incubation with nigericin (10 μM) for 15 min in the presence or the absence of ethyl pyruvate (10 mM). Shown in panel c are representative images of normal and ASC speck. Scale bars, 50 μm