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. 2018 Feb 7;9(2):171. doi: 10.1038/s41419-017-0257-3

Fig. 4. Caspase-1 inhibitor represses nicotine-induced endothelial cells pyroptosis.

Fig. 4

HAECs were pretreated with caspase-1 inhibitor (VX-765, 10 μM) for 1 h, and then the cells were incubated with nicotine (1 μM) for 24 h. a VX-765 inhibited the protein expression of pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, IL-18, and IL-1β in nicotine-treated endothelial cells. b–e Quantitative analysis of pyroptosis-associated protein expression. GAPDH was used as an internal control (n = 4). f Pyroptotic cell death was determined by LDH release, and the relative LDH activity was inhibited by VX-765 (n = 5). g Double staining of PI (red) and Hoechst 33342 (blue) (left: the representative photographs, right: the quantification of PI positive cells). The increased percentage of PI positive cells in nicotine treated endothelial cells were reduced after pretreatment with VX-765. The data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 4). Magnification: ×200. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001