FIGURE 11.

AgNP₁₅ induce secretion of IL-1β in human primary monocytes and macrophages. A, cells were primed with LPS (100 ng/ml) for different periods of time. Protein expression of pro-IL-1β and NLRP-3 was determined by Western blot, as described under “Experimental Procedures.” MW, molecular weight markers. B, for IL-1β quantification, cells were primed or not with LPS (100 ng/ml) for 4 h and then stimulated for 1 h with 25 μg/ml AgNP₁₅ or buffer (Ctrl). Supernatants were harvested to quantify IL-1β by ELISA. Data are from one representative experiment out of four (A) or are expressed as means ± S.E. of five independent experiments (B). Differences were considered statistically significant as follows: *, p ≤ 0.05 and **, p ≤ 0.01 versus control or appropriate diluent.