Skip to main content
. 2013 Apr 25;9(4):e1003330. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003330

Figure 4. HCV triggers the NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β maturation through induction of potassium efflux after macrophage uptake.

Figure 4

(A) Secreted IL-β protein levels (upper panel) and immunoblot analysis of IL-1β (lower panel set) of THP-1 treated with transfection reagent or transfected with either with full length HCV RNA or polyU/UC RNA or exposed to HCV (moi = 0.01). (B) IL-β mRNA expression in THP1 stably expressing non-targeting control shRNA or shRNA specific to NLRP3 or caspase-1. (C) Immunoblot of caspase-1 and IL-1β in THP1 stably expressing non-targeting control the indicated shRNA. (D) THP-1 were pre-treated with DMSO (control) or with 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200 µM of potassium channel inhibitor glybenclamide (Glyben) for 2 hrs followed by mock treatment (M; control) or HCV (moi = 0.01) exposure in the presence of glyben for an additional 1 hr. (E) IL-1β p17 abundance in THP-1 cultured in normal media or in media containing NaCl (100 mM) or KCl (100 mM) for 1 hr followed by mock-treatment (-) or exposure to HCV (moi = 0.01) in the same media for an additional 1 hr.