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. 2013 Jul 29;8(7):e69846. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069846

Figure 4. C. difficile toxins trigger BMDC IL-1β release by activating an ASC-containing inflammasome.

Figure 4

BMDCs from WT C57BL/6 (genetically Nlrp1 deficient) mice and mice deficient in Nlrp3 and ASC were infected with C. difficile strains at an MOI of 10. Pro- and active caspase-1 (45 & 10 kDa, respectively) and pro- and mature IL-1β (31 & 17 kDa, respectively) release 8h post-infection was quantified by western blotting. 5 mM ATP served as a positive control (A). Quantification of IL-1β secretion in infected WT, Nlrp3 and ASC KO BMDC 8h post-infection. Data is represented as mean ± SEM, n = 4. ***p<0.001 represents significant difference from uninfected cells, ∧p<0.05 and ∧∧∧/’p<0.001 represent significant WT and Nlrp3−/− difference from ASC−/−. P values were obtained using ANOVA with Bonferroni post-test analysis (B & C).