Figure 4. Chlamydia-induced trophoblast IL-1β secretion is not dependent on ASC or Nalp3.
(a–b) Sw.71 trophoblast cells were transfected to express either shRNA for ASC (sh-ASC) or a control sequence (sh-control) (a) Western blot of lysates from the Sw.71 trophoblast cells expressing either sh-control or sh-ASC for ASC expression. β-actin served as a loading control. (b) 36 hrs after either NI or Ct infection, levels of secreted IL-1β in the supernatants of sh-control and sh-ASC cells were measured by ELISA. n=3; *p<0.05 relative to the NI control. (c–d) Sw.71 trophoblast cells were transfected to express either shRNA for Nalp3 (sh-Nalp3) or a control sequence (sh-control). (c) RNA from the Sw.71 trophoblast cells expressing either sh-control or sh-NAlp3 was analyzed for Nalp3 mRNA expression by qRT-PCR. n=3; *p<0.05 relative to the sh-control. (d) 72hrs after either no treatment (NT) or treatment with MSU (100µg/ml) levels of secreted IL-1β in the supernatants of sh-control and sh-Nalp3 cells were measured by ELISA. n=3; *p<0.05 relative to the NT control unless otherwise indicated. (e) 36 hrs after either NI or Ct infection, levels of secreted IL-1β in the supernatants of sh-control and sh-Nalp3 cells were measured by ELISA. n=3; *p<0.05 relative to the NI control.