Conflicting effects of γ-PGA on inflammasome activation. (a) BMDMs were primed with γ-PGA (0.8 mg/ml) for 3 h. γ-PGA-primed BMDMs were further treated with ATP or NG in the presence of γ-PGA as indicated. IL-1β secretion was detected with an immunoblot assay. All immunoblot data shown are representative of at least two independent experiments. (b) Mice (n=10, each group) were intraperitoneally injected with saline or γ-PGA 1 h after LPS (25 mg/kg) administration. The survival data were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test. *P<0.05 versus the LPS-treated group. BMDMs, bone marrow-derived macrophages; IL, interleukin; γ-PGA, poly-gamma-glutamic acid; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; NG, nigericin.